Former world No 4 Guy Forget has described Rafael Nadal as the “strongest mentally” compared to his great rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
The 11-time ATP title winner declared he never saw Nadal “lower his head or admit defeat” and argued the Spaniard’s resilience was “probably his greatest strength.”
Nadal fell 2-6, 6-7(5) to Djokovic in the third place playoff at the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Riyadh on Saturday.
It was likely the final on-court meeting between the two tennis icons given Nadal has not entered any tournaments before next month’s Davis Cup Finals — where he will retire. Nadal and Djokovic contested 60 official ATP matches — a men’s Open Era record.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion announced he was calling time on his incredible career in an emotional video last week.
“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two years especially,” the 38-year-old Spaniard said in a video shared on social media.
“I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations. It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make.
“But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end. And I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”
In an interview with L’Equipe, Forget highlighted the greatest qualities possessed by each of the Big Three as he paid tribute to Nadal following his retirement announcement.
“We can say that Federer was technically the most accomplished, the most incredible when he played well,” said the Frenchman.
“We can say that Djokovic is the best returner, the player who misses the least, the most difficult to counter, but for me, the strongest mentally is Nadal. In this respect, I place him above Roger and Novak.
“When some other legends could show signs of irritation and even give up during the match, I never saw him lower his head or admit defeat. Until the last point.
“And even when you compare him to Jimmy Connors or Lleyton Hewitt — monsters of pugnacity, resilience — he was way above.
“It was probably his greatest strength, this ability, whatever his physical problem, the score, his opponent or the surface, to constantly say to himself: ‘I’m going to find the solution and I’m going to get through it’. I don’t know where he got this strength from.”
The 2024 Davis Cup Finals knockout stage will be played in Malaga from November 19 to 24. Spain will face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Nadal is a five-time Davis Cup champion.