Novak Djokovic has confessed that a friendship with Rafael Nadalwas off the cards due to their intense rivalry on thecourt. The two titans of tennis, who have a staggering 46 Grand Slam titles between them, have been fierce competitors for years.
The Serbian star, who is set to face Valentin Vacherot in today's Shanghai Masters semi-final, opened up about his relationship with Nadal following the Spaniard's tearful retirement last November. Nadal hung up his racket after Spain were knocked out of the Davis Cup by the Netherlands.
Speaking to Corriere Della Sera, Djokovic explained why a friendship with Nadal was "impossible". He said: "Nadal is only a year older than me, we are both Geminis, at first we even went to dinner together, twice. But even with him, friendship is impossible.
"I have always respected and greatly admired him. Thanks to him and Federer, I grew up and became who I am. This will unite us forever; therefore I feel gratitude towards them. Nadal is a part of my life, in the last fifteen years I've seen more of him than my mum!
"We have never been friends. Between rivals, it is not possible, but we have never been enemies. I've always had respect for Federer, he was one of the greatest of all time. He had an extraordinary impact, but I've never been close to him."
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Despite not having a close relationship, Djokovic and Nadal have consistently praised each other, with Djokovic expressing his admiration for Nadal's tenacity throughout his career, admitting it has inspired him in his own tennis journey.
He said: "So we go back a very, very long time. There's a lot of things that inspire me in his career. Definitely the tenacity, dedication, fighting spirit. This kind of champions mentality of never giving up and always.
"In the face of adversity, finding a way to win, finding a way to come back. That's a kind of a mentality that he possesses, that I find really inspiring."

The two have faced off an impressive 60 times over 18 years, with Djokovic narrowly leading their head-to-head record 31-29. Their most recent clash was at the Paris 2024 Olympics last summer, where Nadal named Djokovic as the player who has given him the most trouble on hard courts.
Speaking to The Athletic, Nadal said: "I needed my body and my physical performance to the highest level to compete against Novak on a hard court/ Roger was able to cut the points very fast with his serve, but Novak and me, our games are closer.
"He was better than me on hard without a doubt, but until 2013, 2014, I was able to compete against him the proper way. Then later, when you have a lot of issues in the body, you lose a little bit of confidence in the movement.

"You start avoiding things that you feel you can't do like before, because you feel that if you do this kind of thing, you can be injured.
"The mental part of that had a huge impact against Novak. I needed this extra energy in terms of movement, in terms of bringing my game and my body to the limit. And I was not able to produce that anymore."
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