Andrea Petkovic gives touching tribute to Rafael Nadal - "There has never been an athlete who has achieved more"

The tributes continue to pour in for tennis legend Rafael Nadal, and former WTA star Andrea Petkovic was the latest to offer some touching words following news of the Spaniard's impending retirement.

After dealing with injury over the past year, Nadal officially announced he would be retiring at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals in Malaga this November. The former World No.1 will be leaving the sport following an illustrious two decades on tour, capturing 22 Grand Slam singles titles and Olympic gold in both singles and doubles.

In an interview with German newspaper Zeit Online, Petkovic gave her thoughts on Nadal's retirement. The former World No.9 spoke on how Nadal transcended the sport of tennis, and credited his indomitable will as the backbone behind his success.

"There has never been an athlete who has achieved more and who not only feared losing before each individual match, but was absolutely convinced of it to the very core of his being," stated Petkovic. "At the beginning of his 14th title, which broke all clay records with Roland Garros, Nadal thought he would fly out against a qualifier in the first round. This gave his tennis game the urgency and the breathlessness, which was transferred to the spectators who were allowed to attend the spectacle.
"I had to go out of the room regularly when Nadal was playing. And it wasn’t just me. Many tennis players loved watching Rafael Nadal play tennis, but were scared when they watched him fight. Too familiar the state of existence on the cliff of failure, which Nadal always radiated latently. It was his great strength. It gave him the energy, the strength, yes, the elixir of life to deny every point as if it were the last one he would ever play."