People often forget that fedal started out with a hero worship age gap but a power imbalance that skewed the opposite way so it evened things out think about it
early fedal is SO special to me bc EXACTLY !!! rafa was this little babychild who totally worshipped roger and this beginning forever influenced the dynamic of fedal. I am reminded of in that lv video they did on the mountain last year? 2024?? and they were asked if they remembered the first time they met each other- of course rafa does, he was meeting his hero. but of course Roger does NOT he was just meeting another kid, another young tennis player who looked up to him.
the fact Roger’s first slam win was Rafa’s first slam appearance .. Wimby 2003 u r so special .. then of course the famed 2004 sunshine double.. the doubles match in iw and roger inviting rafa to watch his singles match in his box .. then the first ever fedal match in iw.. rafa was no34 by this point like he was no scrub despite being only 17 but Roger was the newly crowned world no 1 !! as of February 2nd 2004!!!! and then rafa was soooo embarrassed about winning that match ..
rafa then winning 6 of their first 7 meetings, the only win roger getting being the miami final in 2005, which did go to five back when masters finals were bo5..
it should be clarified that roger is 5 years older than rafa ! which I mean in tennis years is eons XD one year age difference ur probably in the same circuits (most juniors tournaments r split by 2 year increments ie. U12 U14 U16 U18), two or three year difference u might still see each other at combined tournaments.. 5 years??? u r nawt in the same circles. Roger turned pro in 1998, rafa would win the Spanish junior championships for the second year in a row, and become the only player to reach th U14 spanish championship final as a twelve year old ..
rafa turned pro in 2001 at age 14, making his main draw pro debut at a futures on 9/11 like the actual day of 9/11 one of my favourite fun facts (also that he lost after fumbling 13 match points apparently 😭) and then cracked top 50 in 2003, then missed all of natural surface season in 2004 bc of injury </3, then 2005 happened 🤩🤩🤩🤩 he broke top 10 then top 5 then top 2, where he stayed for three years right behind roger ..
he was well and truly Roger’s Main Rival by this point and yet u watch any clip of rafa from this time and really still to this day lol and he will never hold himself at the same level of roger XD will always say roger is better kekdjdje
it’s actually so special to me that the last times they played each other were the sf of roland garros 2019 and the sf of Wimbledon 2019, and the expected outcomes did happen.. it just feels right..
it is interesting in that in the beginning of course the 5 years is a lot between 17 and 22 but as they got older it’s not that stark anymore like arguably for ur run of the mill professional tennis player some who’s 25 has more “power” than someone who’s 30. Of course these r not regular pro tennis players, and although the age power imbalance is not so important, the success/fame/notability difference is HUGE for most compared to them.. the fact this new young rival of Roger’s remained his rival, matches his insane success over their twenty years of dominance??? !!!!!!!
like yes in the end the h2h is pretty decisively in Rafa’s favour (24-16) and it was largely rafa who pushed roger to adapt his game over his career but like they’re so intertwined u know? I’d argue that in many ways roger does still hold the power in that he was the first .. the first of the big three (four) the first to usher in that era, the origin from which all stories come from.. there is roger without rafa, but there is no rafa without roger.. honestly though.. I think that’s how he likes it
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
titsay
amandla
