Novak Djokovic implored long-time rival Rafael Nadal to place off his deliberate retirement after defeating the Spaniard Saturday in what was prone to be the ultimate chapter of their storied rivalry.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic provides a speech after successful his third place match towards Spain’s Rafael Nadal (REUTERS)
“Don’t leave tennis, man,” Djokovic stated in an on-court interview after beating Nadal in straight units 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) on the “Six Kings Slam” exhibition in Saudi Arabia.
He added that their battles through the years had been “very intense” and instructed Nadal he hoped they may sooner or later “sit on a beach somewhere” and have a drink.
Nadal, 38, introduced on October 10 that he would retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga subsequent month.
Organisers of the Saudi occasion billed Saturday’s match as maybe Nadal’s final singles contest as knowledgeable.
Nadal stated Thursday he was uncertain whether or not he can be match sufficient to play singles in Malaga.
Djokovic and Nadal — two of the game’s famed “Big Three” together with Roger Federer — had confronted one another 60 instances on the principle tour previous to Saturday’s exhibition match, with Djokovic holding a slim 31-29 edge.
Their final encounter got here in the course of the Paris Olympics on the identical Roland Garros courts the place Nadal received 14 French Open titles, although Djokovic triumphed simply 6-1, 6-4.
Saturday’s match was additionally principally one-sided, with Nadal spraying errors and Djokovic wrapping up the primary set in simply 31 minutes.
Feeding off the help of the partisan crowd who overtly cheered Djokovic’s double-faults, Nadal rallied to push the second set to a tie-break, reeling off winners and even treating followers to 1 final iconic fist pump earlier than succumbing to Djokovic’s relentless serving.
“It’s great to see him still fighting even though he’s had injuries and struggles,” Djokovic, 37, instructed a post-match press convention.
It was “a very emotional day, special day” as a result of it was the “last time I play my biggest rival, Nadal,” he added.
“I’ve witnessed Andy Murray retiring this year in Wimbledon, Roger (Federer) a few years ago as well. And now Rafa, you know. It’s tough in some way to see them go, because all of my career, basically, I’ve played with them.”
After being introduced with a golden tennis racket, Nadal in flip thanked Djokovic for the “amazing rivalry” and “for all the moments that we shared on court”.
– Saudi tennis push –
French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz was set to tackle Australian Open and US Open winner Jannik Sinner within the “Six Kings Slam” remaining later Saturday.
Saudi Arabia’s push into tennis took off final 12 months with its first ATP Tour occasion — the Subsequent Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah — and exhibition matches pitting Djokovic towards Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka towards Ons Jabeur.
The Girls’s Tennis Affiliation (WTA) introduced in April that Riyadh would host the subsequent three editions of the Tour Finals, that includes the highest eight singles gamers and doubles groups.
The 2024 version will likely be staged from November 2-9.
Earlier this 12 months, Nadal was named ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation.
The brand new position will contain “dedicated time in the kingdom each year” to develop the game in addition to the event of a brand new Rafa Nadal Academy, the Saudi federation stated when the announcement was made in January.
The tennis world’s embrace of Saudi Arabia has drawn some criticism, notably from greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova who’ve voiced concern in regards to the kingdom’s document of human rights abuses.
Djokovic stated he didn’t know if he, like Nadal, would spend extra time in Saudi Arabia post-retirement however he stated he was focussing on what he described because the positives there.
“There’s always going to be criticism. You can always focus on good things or bad things,” he stated.
“You know, it just depends on the perspective, like anything in life.”