Federer joking about Nadal: "I thought the best double partner was my wife until this guy showed up"

Former world number one Switzerland’s Roger Federer has named Spain’s Rafael Nadal as his favourite doubles partner, even ahead of his wife.

The 42-year-old made those comments while responding to a question during the Laver Cup which left the fans all excited and made some interesting remarks on the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter.

"I mean, I thought it was my wife until this guy showed up, so yeah, Rafa can have it," he replied.

Federer retired from the sport last year in September after suffering with fitness problems for a long time.

The Basel-born is often termed one of the greatest players of all time in the men’s singles category in the Open era.

He was the first men’s singles player to win more than 14 Grand Slam titles and also became the first to lift 20 major titles.

During his illustrious career, Federer’s fiercest rival was Nadal who competed with him throughout and was later joined by Serbia's Novak Djokovic.

Both players faced off on 40 occasions at the highest level where the Spaniard has an edge with 24 victories compared to Federer’s 16 triumphs.

However, interestingly, Nadal’s 14 out of those 24 victories came while playing on the Clay court.

The 37-year-old is termed the ‘King of Clay’ as he has won the French Open 14 times in his career.