Rafael Nadal has made a place for himself in the tennis world despite having to deal with the peaks of his two biggest rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. While he has endeared himself to older and younger audiences alike, he seemingly isn’t too popular in Great Britain. According to a poll conducted by the British publication Express recently, Nadal is nowhere in the race to be considered tennis’ GOAT as compared to Federer and Djokovic.
Interestingly, Rafael Nadal himself admitted in a recent TV interview that Novak Djokovic is the greatest of all time since statistics are the most important yardstick to judge for that. So while the poll might not totally be different from Nadal’s views, another point is set to anger the Spanish champion’s supporters. He has only received 12% votes in the poll, which was conducted with 12,850 people online.
Is Nadal’s Wimbledon record responsible for poor popularity in England?
Novak Djokovic was voted by 59% of Express readers. It is an impressive number without doubt and in fact, startling too. Djokovic has been publicly critical of the Wimbledon crowd over the years for considering him an antagonist largely. But there is a section of British tennis fans who could well have been stunned by the Serb’s 24th Grand Slam win recently, which came at the US Open 2023.
But at No.2 came Roger Federer, who got 29% of votes. Federer has won 20 Grand Slams and 100 plus ATP titles, which include an all-time record 8 Wimbledon titles. Possibly, the Swiss maestro’s charm and elegance continues to endure. Being a marketer’s delight till date, he remains omnipresent. These factors could have made fans go for him for the second spot and he might have been first had he had more numbers in his favour.
Remarkably, Rafael Nadal was the first to break or equal many Roger Federer records in the game and continues to hold many too. But he was ranked the lowest out of the ‘Big Three’. Nadal gradually got the Wimbledon crowd to support him, having won the title in 2008 and 2010.
And yet the Spaniard is slammed for underperforming in London, perhaps being a victim of his own greatness. From 2010-2022, Rafael Nadal made it to one final and three semi-finals. Another factor against Nadal could also be that he has seen stunning lows as much as highs, none described better by him missing out on most of the 2023 season after winning 2 Grand Slam titles in 2022.
Additionally, Rafael Nadal has mainly dominated on clay and could not find the same kind of form on English grass immediately. Although, in a contrasting point of view, that is unreasonable to expect from most players always, including Novak Djokovic. Nadal is the second player in men’s singles tennis history after Bjorn Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back, in the same season for two seasons or more.
Could it also be that despite improving on his English reasonably well, Nadal not being as good as Federer and Djokovic in speaking, has not made him a British favorite? All the answers are a possibility.
Rafael Nadal reveals 2023 was not about tennis for him
In the Movistar+ interview, Rafael Nadal said that he did not watch or follow tennis much this year since he has opted to be with himself and his family by the sea, travelling in his yacht. The 22-time Grand Slam champion admitted that he needed to disconnect himself from the game in the hope of recovering faster. Tellingly, he also expressed regret with the way he handled his fitness issues and claims that is the major difference between him and Novak Djokovic when it comes to the GOAT race in tennis.
Rafael Nadal is expected to make a much-anticipated, grand comeback in January 2024 at the Australian Open. He is ranked No.239 in the world at the moment, which means that he could return as a wildcard entrant in most competitions. It is possible that 2024 could be his final year on the ATP Tour as he aims to bow out with a big title win.
