Rafael Nadal Feels He Is Behind Roger Federer

Written by: Staff on 5th June 2013

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

Rafael Nadal Feels He Is Behind Roger Federer

epa03729463 Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during his fourth round match against Kei Nishikori of Japan at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 03 June 2013. EPA/YOAN VALAT |

For all of his clay titles and his 20-10 record over Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal admits that in the grand scheme of tennis, he has not yet caught up with the Swiss, Nadal, tipped again as favorite at the French Open as he bids for an eighth title from nine editions, bases his analysis on simple numbers. And on the face of things, Federer still sets the overall pace.

“I think the head to head are important (regarding) important matches,” said the third-seeded Spaniard. “But, for instance, Chelsea beat Manchester United in both matches during the season, but Manchester United won the Premier League, the better team is Manchester United. That’s an example.”

For Nadal, there is no getting around Federer’s record-setting 17 Grand Slam titles compared to his own 11. “Roger has 17 Grand Slams and a lot of records on his shoulders. It would be very arrogant and very stupid for me say that today I have a comparison with him just because he has a negative head to head against me.

“I’m happy about what I achieved, I’m happy about what I’m winning. But Roger has better numbers than me, and that’s the real thing. Nobody has more Grand Slams than him. He’s the guy with more weeks in the history in the No. 1, I think. So these kind of record says that he’s the best of the history. Numbers are for that.”

The Spaniard has won four of his last five matches against the Swiss, most recently the Rome final in May.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: French Open, French tennis news, nadal, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Spanish tennis news