Rafael Nadal has dominated Roger Federer over their careers to the tune of 17-9.

With Nadal flat-out talking trash about the way Federer handles himself with the media and the other players, the thought was that this feud would really heat up.

It hasn’t.

In typical tennis fashion, both stars have said that the harsh words were blown out of proportion and that they are friends off the court. While that sounds fine, when Nadal says things about Federer and how he handles himself, there are true hard feelings behind those words that an apology won’t help.

As much as Nadal has back-peddled from his original comments, he may have already spooked the tennis great enough to give him the mental edge.

Federer told the Boston Globe about the comments from Nadal and how he doesn’t want any trouble:

No. No. Honestly, no. It was here for one day and then gone again. I’m happy about that because it didn’t deserve more attention than it did. So for me, it’s another great match with Rafa.

Way to be Swiss, Federer.

With all of the talk about the tour being too strenuous on the players, Federer has remained mum on his views. That is what caused the true feelings of Nadal to spill out.

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As much as we all wanted to see the confrontation, Federer has done everything in his power to stop the drama. That either means they are truly friends, which doesn't appear to be true, or that Federer is scared.

With Nadal’s dominance over the years, Federer doesn’t want to continue a verbal confrontation that he can’t back up on the court. He knows Nadal is the better player right now and he doesn’t want to embarrass himself.

Smart move. Now retire.

 

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