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Roger Federer once shed light on what it takes to defeat Rafael Nadal at the French Open, saying it was “tough” but not impossible.

Nadal has always been a force to be reckoned with on the court, especially on the red clay of Roland-Garros. The Spaniard has won the French Open 14 times, a record that is unlikely to be broken anytime soon.

Federer, who was defeated by his arch-rival Nadal in the final of the claycourt Slam in 2008, was asked at a post-match press conference if defeating the ‘King of Clay’ was becoming impossible at the tournament. The Swiss replied that while it was “tough,” if players believed in themselves, they could get it done.

“Of course it’s tough. But you want to believe it, and this is what I tried to do. This is what I tried to do. But, I mean, the way he played today made it very difficult,” Federer said.

“He has wonderful, awesome sensations here in Roland Garros. He has never been defeated. The only time he wasn’t there was because he was injured, so, yeah. Many players should think about defeating Rafa, because I don’t think many of them do that, do think about defeating Nadal,” he added.

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Roger Federer told the press that he hoped for a “better outcome” in the 2008 French Open final but that Rafael Nadal played “better,” as evidenced by the 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win.

“I was hoping for a better outcome, no doubt, you know. But Rafa played well today, made it hard for me, and, yeah, was better. It was a tough loss, but I tried and I hoped, and it wasn’t enough,” the Swiss said.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion also mentioned how the Spaniard’s game had improved since their first meeting at Roland-Garros in 2005

“I always had that feeling, you know, he’s playing, you know, quite differently to the first time we played here in Paris in the semifinals. He’s much better on defense, much better on offense, you know,” Federer said.

“When you, you know, really cannot play your game and he can, you know, play exactly what he wants from the baseline, well, you end up with scores like this sometimes. It’s tough for the opponent, obviously,” he added.

Federer announced his retirement from tennis in 2022. Interestingly, his final professional match came at the Laver Cup, where he teamed up with Nadal to play doubles