Heavier balls to blame for slower game: Nadal
Federer, a 20-times Grand Slam champion and the world number three, won the last of his eight Wimbledon titles in 2017 and is seeded second this year behind top-ranked Novak Djokovic.
"But if you need a reminder of who he is, just look at his career stats and grand slams that he won."
One thing that has been consistent about Rafa Nadal's disappointing season so far has been his brutal honesty.
The 43-year-old, whose longevity is a talked about tale in world tennis, said the line-up that Spain has presented for the Davis Cup tie against India is a must watch for every single budding athlete in the country.
Having headed into the match tied on 47 league goals with West Ham's former stalwart Paolo Di Canio, Antonio was delighted to have surpassed the Italian as he celebrated by lifting a cardboard cut-out of himself at the side of the pitch.
'Generally, I'm happy outside the court, happy on the court, happy in life. Then I think you play your best.'
'The governing bodies, especially Grand Slams, need to allocate enough funds to support lower-ranked players, low-level tournaments, futures, challengers and I believe there is enough funds for those too.'
Underarm serve could be an effective weapon in halting Rafael Nadal's annual rampage on clay most just chuckled.
Serena Williams returns to the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday
A summary of Saturday's action in Serie A and La Liga.
'They're just trying to shove us on the court because we're qualifiers'
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and missed another as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 3-1.
It took the COVID-19 pandemic to put a brake on Djokovic's 18-match unbeaten run in 2020, as he won the ATP Cup with Serbia, an eighth Australian Open title and a fifth Dubai Tennis Championships before the season came to a halt in early March.
Roger Federer blamed troubled preparations for his US Open quarter-final exit on Wednesday, saying he had spent most of the time leading up to the year's final Grand Slam worrying about his back instead of focusing on training.
A summary of Wednesday night's action in the UEFA Champions League.
With professional tennis tours closed down until mid July at the earliest because of the coronavirus pandemic, an esports version of the claycourt event is being staged online. Nadal showed impressive fingerwork to beat young Canadian Denis Shapovalov in his opening round-robin match on a digital representation of the Spanish capital's Manolo Santana Stadium.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic says he is excited to have created a "new vibe" by inviting Andre Agassi to work with him during the French Open which starts on Sunday.
Fourth seed Rafa Nadal was stunned by Serb Viktor Troicki in an upset-filled Shanghai Masters second round on Wednesday while Andy Murray breezed past American Steve Johnson and Nick Kyrgios slumped to a listless defeat. Troicki, ranked 31st in the world, overcame Nadal 6-3 7-6(3) in an hour and 34 minutes to secure his first ever victory in five previous attempts against the 14-time grand slam winner. The unseeded Serb broke twice to seal the opening set before Nadal came back strongly in the second. The Spaniard saved a match point at 5-4 down but was defeated in the tiebreak.
World number one Rafa Nadal won a record extending ninth French Open title when he beat Serbian second seed Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in Sunday's final.
Driven by having started out in life with "literally nothing", Novak Djokovic is determined to end up as the man with the most Grand Slam singles titles when he finally hangs up his racket. Djokovic said his hunger for success came from growing up in a time of conflict and privation.
Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic led the tennis world in mourning for "mentor" Kobe Bryant on Monday after Melbourne Park awoke to the news that the NBA great had died in a helicopter crash along with his daughter and seven others. Djokovic had spoken fondly of his relationship with the former Los Angeles Laker in an interview at the weekend and the 16-times Grand Slam champion signed off his Tweet of condolence with the words: "RIP my friend".
Rafael Nadal gave a much improved performance to advance into the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday, dispatching Spanish compatriot and crowd favourite David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3.
German seventh seed Alexander Zverev recovered from a slow start to beat former champion Stan Wawrinka 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the Australian Open on Wednesday to reach his first career Grand Slam semi-final. Swiss Wawrinka, who won the first of his three Grand Slams at Melbourne Park in 2014, broke Zverev twice early in the opening set to breeze through the opening set but the 22-year-old German came roaring back into the contest.
Images from Day 3 of the Wimbledon tennis championships played in London, on Wednesday.
Confident Shapovalov primed to step up against Djokovic
IMAGES from the Australian Open final played on Sunday
A potential semi-final with number one seed Novak Djokovic looms for defending champion Andy Murray following the Wimbledon draw on Friday.
The professional tennis circuit, which requires players to jet around the world, was forced into shutdown in early March as countries went into lockdown and closed their borders to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
World No 1 Rafael Nadal eased into the French Open final after defeating Britain's Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 at the Roland Garros on Friday.
Organisers played a wrong national anthem for Moldova ahead of their tie against Belgium in Sydney. Denis Shapovalov won the battle of the next generation against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to help Canada to an emphatic 3-0 victory in the inaugural ATP Cup men's team event in Brisbane on Friday.
Venus Williams has pulled out of the upcoming Brisbane International after suffering a 'setback' in training
Rafael Nadal is hungrier than Roger Federer and is likely to overhaul his Swiss rival's grand slam title tally to become the most decorated player ever, according to former world number one Mats Wilander.
Serena Williams faces her first seeded opponent at the French Open on Thursday and will hope to use her booming serve to beat Australian Ashleigh Barty in the second round.
Mexico defender Rafa Marquez stuck his foot out and Netherlands winger Arjen Robben went down for an injury-time penalty that took his team into the World Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 win. Did Robben dive or was he fouled by Marquez?
Photograph of the World Cup game between Netherlands and MExico
Germany's Andrea Petkovic reached her first Grand Slam semi-final on Wednesday, thrashing 10th seed Sara Errani 6-2, 6-2 after a lengthy rain delay at the French Open.
Images from Saturday's action in the English Premier League.
A round-up of the fifth day's play at the French Open.
Roger Federer has secured his place in the ATP Finals for a record 15th time after the Swiss world number three won a record eighth Wimbledon title on Sunday, the Association of Tennis Professionals confirmed on Monday.
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