Rafael Nadal has praised his sporting rival Novak Djokovic, saying that he "has achieved something historic" and that he could not have imagined the Serbian player would win three Grand Slams this season.
Nadal and Djokovic's rivalry lasted over a decade as the two players (along with fellow Big Three member Roger Federer) dominated the top levels of the sport. However, the Spaniard was forced to miss the majority of the 2023 season due to injury.
After he sustained an injury at the Australian Open, where he crashed out in the second round, Nadal announced that he would be undergoing surgery and therefore would not be returning until 2024, which he suggested could be his final season.
In contrast to Nadal, Djokovic has had a hugely successful season this year, winning three out of four Grand Slams - the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open. In the process, he not only overtook Nadal's men's singles record of 22 major titles, but also equaled Margaret Court's overall record of 24.
Nadal was accused of appearing reluctant to praise Djokovic in an interview with Movistar+ last month.
"I think that with respect to titles, Djokovic is the best in history and there is nothing to discuss in that," he said at the time.
Recently, Nadal has more overtly praised his rival, saying that he "achieved something historic."
"In the end, we all know that Djokovic is what he is and that he has achieved something historic, something that had never been achieved before and all that remains is to congratulate him and in the end it did not surprise me either.
"I imagined Djokovic winning Grand Slam but I didn’t imagine that he would win three because I think there is another young generation that is very powerful," he said.
Nadal went on to speak of his young compatriot Alcaraz and his achievement at Wimbledon.
"Alcaraz had a great opportunity to avoid that at Roland Garros, but what happened to him happened to him, unfortunately. But he later made up for it at Wimbledon and achieved something historic for our sport," he said.
Rafa Nadal says he didn’t think Djokovic would win 3 Grand Slams this year: “In the end, we all know that Djokovic is what he is & that he has achieved something historic, something that had never been achieved before & we can only congratulate him. I imagined Djokovic winning…
