Federer and Nadal are at Odds

Written by: Staff on 16th January 2012

Federer and Nadal are at Odds

Switzerland's Roger Federer returns to Alexander Kudryavtsev of Russia during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 16 January, 2012. Federer won. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

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Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s mutual admiration society might have hit the rocks after the Spaniard said his rival may be letting other players take the heat for criticizing various aspects of tennis.

The elite pair have always been on more than civil terms, but the relationship may be changing after Nadal launched an outburst on the eve of the Australian Open.

After advising in English that his days of publicly agitating for tennis reform had done nothing except make him an occasional villain. the No. 2 then criticized Federer when speaking to Spanish media.

The Swiss has long been something of a statesman for the sport, without ever igniting any controversy. Nadal says the 16-time Grand Slam winner is letting other players cop the flak.

“For him it’s good to say nothing. Everything positive. ‘It’s all well and good for me, I look like a gentleman,’ and the rest can burn themselves. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinions.”

Nadal and Scot Andy Murray led the chorus of criticism about the state of the game at the US Open, when scheduling and the contentious issue of how Grand Slam prize money is distributed across during the dreary, rain-soaked major.

Federer and Nadal own 26 titles at the majors between them and won all of the Grand Slams for seven years prior to last season, when Novak Djokovic won three of the four.

Nadal said that he plans to make his opinions known in private rather than in post-match media conferences. “Federer likes the circuit. I like the circuit, it’s much better than many other sports but that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be better.”

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Topics: Atp, Australian Open, Federer, nadal