Rafa and Roger: the Most Likeable Legends

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are what every sports star should strive to be like.

While sports media will focus on Tom Brady and his retirement, and rightfully so as he is probably the overall greatest sportsman to ever live, one of my favorite stories of the week unfolded on the tennis courts of Australia. 

Before expressing my gratitude for Rafa’s magical career and Roger’s brilliant victories, it’s important to highlight the success of Ash Barty, the first Australian woman to win in Melbourne in decades. For someone to nearly walk away from the sport altogether and come back to dominate is impressive, so congratulations to her and her team.

If you asked a younger me about tennis, I’d probably laugh and say tennis is a sissy sport. No contact, don’t care. But as I grew in maturity and perspective I found an interest in the game. There’s a lot to love about tennis: anything that encourages fitness is a positive activity, you can find courts in a lot of places, it’s relatively cheap to play, you only need a friend or three to play, and it has a wide international audience. I appreciate the game much more now and look forward to playing it with my kids as they grow up. 

Early Sunday morning in America, and Monday morning in Australia, Rafael Nadal earned his 21st major victory, the most all time for men, by winning the Australian Open. This championship broke a three-way-tie with Roger Federer and Novak Djokivic, although I expect each of them to win a few more before retirement. 

I think I started appreciating tennis more following the 2008 Wimbledon final, a historic thriller between Nadal and Federer. Despite its lack of contact, I remember watching the two look like heavyweight boxers in the 12th round fighting for their lives to win the match. I was super impressed and a year later I met my now-wife who loves tennis (and is pretty talented herself) so every season we spend at least some time watching the four major tournaments. I always gravitated towards what I considered the underdog and the smaller, more athletic player in Nadal, but Federer always carried himself like royalty and class, regardless if he was up by two sets or down.

Of course with every star athlete comes an off-court life, so along with their tennis success I started to follow their public work. Both stars fund and lead multiple philanthropic efforts, and maintain

 active support for community efforts and humanitarian relief. To my knowledge, they are free of relationship drama and any inappropriate scandals. Overall, at least to the public eye, they hold themselves to a quality standard on and off the court, and continue to do so after 20 years of stardom.

In a sports world filled with stars that make fools of themselves, Rafa and Roger represent how athletes should handle their business both in competition and outside it. While both careers are likely on the home stretch, I’m glad I got to grow up enjoying their dominance, and hope they inspire the young guns of tennis to maintain the same standard.