Roger Federer says his wins against Rafael Nadal count double to him after naming the Spaniard as his toughest opponent.
The 17-time major champion was speaking at the Hopman Cup’s New Year’s Eve gala in Perth, where he will play his first competitive tennis in six months against Great Britain’s Daniel Evans on Monday night.
Federer, who ended his 2016 season in July to fully recover from a knee injury that required surgery in February, said he took heart from Nadal’s resurgence after long injury layoffs in his tribute to the 14-time major winner.
“I have to pick Rafa,” said Federer, who trails their head-to-head 23-11. “The way he played, or plays, against me has always been extremely difficult, plus I think I played way too many clay-court matches against him.
“That kind of scarred me, I think,” he added.
Nadal has been responsible for six of Federer’s 10 major final defeats, but the Swiss – who is partnering Belinda Bencic on his first appearance in Perth since 2002 – has nothing but admiration for his on-court nemesis, who returns to action in Brisbane this week after his own injury problems in 2016.
“He beat me a lot of times in those finals, time and time again,” Federer continued. “He just showed me what he could do.
“I hope for him that he can come back extremely strong again, because I think the world of Rafa and his game. It’s quite extraordinary, actually. And his fighting spirit, his professionalism that he brings to the game.
“I really enjoy watching him, and it’s tough against him. Every match I won against him almost counted double to me.”
Federer also looks to Nadal for inspiration as he makes his return from the first major injury of his career, hoping to bounce back as the Spaniard did following his own knee problems in 2009.
“He’s always come back and it seemed like nothing,” Federer said. “Every time he came back he had success. I hope it’s going to be the same for me.”
The 35-year-old went into further detail about the innocuous circumstances that prompted left knee surgery following his semi-final run at last year’s Australian Open.
“The next day I woke up and we had a drink with the 25 people, friends and family, who travelled to Australia and had supported me throughout the couple of weeks,” Federer said.
“I had a drink, went to bed late, woke up late. The kids came back from the pool and they wanted to take a bath. I told them no, take a shower – it’s easier. I had woken up all tired.
“But they were like, no, let’s take a bath. So I said, okay then, take a bath. I turn around, I put on the bath, and that’s where my knee went,” he added, clicking his fingers.
“A little pop. I didn’t think much about it – went to the zoo in the afternoon and started limping around like an old man, and realised something was wrong. I came back to Switzerland, had a scan, and had an operation a couple of days later.
“In some ways you can say what a freak moment for it to happen – it might as well happen during a match rather than doing something like this.
“But then I look back and think, maybe this knee could have gone years and years before that. I feel fortunate that it held for as long as it did.”
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