Last night Rafael Nadal reached an important milestone at presumably his favourite place in the whole wide world: Roland Garros.
With his unmatchable 13th victory in the French Open final, he completed 20 Grand Slam wins. This means he is now neck-to-neck with his biggest rival and closest ally Roger Federer.
No man has been able to win these many Grand Slams in the history of tennis; and what luck do we have, to witness two of them holding the record at the same time?!
While that is a thought that requires processing, what makes things even more beautiful, is their friendship.
As Rafa closed matters with his 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 win against world number 1 Novak Djokovic last night, he received praise from people across the world. This included, sporting legends, his fans and of course Federer.
In a sweet post for ‘champion’ Rafa, Roger Federer wrote:
As my greatest rival over many years, I believe we have pushed each other to become better players. Therefore, it is a true honor for me to congratulate him on his 20th Grand Slam victory.
He also called Nadal’s 13th win ‘one of the greatest achievements in sport’.
It is especially amazing that he has now won Roland Garros an incredible 13 times, which is one of the greatest achievements in sport.
Federer ended the post with a reassuring ‘you deserve it’ and as one can imagine, that sent the internet into a very emotional space.