Roger Federer gave props to Rafael Nadal, calling him a giant of the game, after an emotional goodbye ceremony for the Spaniard at the French Open, in an interview with TNT Sports.

A year after hanging up his racket, Rafael Nadal thought back on his career as one of tennis's fiercest competitors.

The Spaniard's amazing career wrapped up at the 2024 Davis Cup. He left the sport with 22 Grand Slam titles and a rep as one of the all-time greats.

Everyone knew his name, even people who didn't follow tennis. He was part of the Big Three—the most dominant trio to ever play—along with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

So, what tricks did Nadal use to beat his biggest rivals?

Against Federer, the plan was pretty simple, Nadal told Spanish newspaper AS. Especially early on: keep hitting his backhand with high shots until he froze, waiting for the next one. Then I'd switch to his forehand.

It took a lot of focus, since I often thought I should hit the other way, but I knew hitting his backhand over and over would wear him down mentally. I didn't always feel like doing it, but it was the smartest thing to do.

Before Djokovic hit the top, Federer and Nadal were the top dogs, creating one of the best rivalries in sports history.

They were usually friendly off the court, aside from a few jabs here and there. But on the court, they were amazing. Together, they won 42 Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic crashed their party and, eventually, won even more awards than them.

"Novak was tougher to read," Nadal said about going up against Djokovic. On clay, it was a little less clear than on hard courts. On hard courts, as I got older and couldn't push my body as much, it was way harder.

To have a shot, I needed my body to cooperate, and it wasn't. I had to make points shorter, and beating Novak in two or three shots was super hard. Sometimes I tried to serve more aggressively, but that didn't pan out.

On clay, I could figure things out. And on grass, I had chances, even though I lost those semi-finals [he lost to the Serb in five sets at Wimbledon in 2018]. I felt better about my chances on clay or grass than on hard courts, especially later in my career.

Djokovic is still going strong as the last man standing from the Big Three.

Since the other two retired, people keep bringing up the idea of an exhibition match between Federer and Nadal, which just shows how much people loved their rivalry even after they stopped playing.

Nadal's old coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, has said that his nephew would be pumped to face his old rival again.

Nadal himself is up for it, but only if it feels right.

"I don't think it'll ever be the same, and I don't expect it to be," Nadal said.

But who knows what'll happen? If we think it'll be fun, if we can make it mean something and something we're really into… why not?

I'm not ruling out picking up a racket again, but I'd need to get ready for it.

When you play, you want to be prepared, and right now I'm not. I'd need to train for a while.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, who used to coach Carlos Alcaraz, who has six Grand Slam titles, said that disagreements about a new contract with Alcaraz's team led to their split before the new season began.

Alcaraz posted on social media last week about parting ways with Ferrero, just before the season's start.

Well, it looked like things were going fine. But when the year ends, you have to look at contracts again. And like any new contract, there were a few things we didn't agree on for the next year. Each side pulls in a different direction. Carlos's people think of what’s best for him, and mine think of what’s best for me.”

“There were some things we just couldn't agree on. Maybe if we had talked it out, we could have fixed it, but we didn't, so we decided to stop working together. That’s basically it. I won’t go into specifics, but we didn't see eye-to-eye, and that's why we split, Ferrero told Marca in an interview.

He also mentioned that he was hurting a little over a week after his time with the player ended. Ferrero said it would be tough to watch Alcaraz play from somewhere other than courtside.

“I think we both need some time to get over this. It’s not easy. I’m hurting right now. It’s hard to end these kinds of relationships so fast. There's got to be a period of feeling sad. And I guess it will also be tough when I see him playing in competitions. We've shared so much together. I think it’s going to take a while,” he added.

Ferrero said they had plans for him to go with Alcaraz to the 2026 Australian Open before they decided to split. He said that he and Alcaraz had a strong emotional bond and that things went wrong at the end.

“Yeah, it's a big change for everyone. It's not easy to get used to. It's not a good time for me, for sure. We've known each other for so long and gone through so much together, so you get close. We had that emotional feeling during training, and we felt everything so intensely with him in the tourneys. Now, everything's different, Ferrero said.