Tennis icon Rafael Nadal went down fighting against his greatest rival on court Novak Djokovic in the third-place playoff match at the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, October 19.
While the outcome wasn't surprising as the Spaniard hasn't been playing his best tennis, he gave glimpses of his brutal best and stunned the 24-time Grand Slam winner before going down 6-2, 7-6 (5).
The 22-time Grand Slam winner produced a few captivating down the line forehands during the contest and left the spectators spellbound. The southpaw was honoured by Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority after the end of the game. Alalshikh presented Nadal with a golden racket woven with golden strings as a souvenir for participating in the marquee tournament.
“It has been an amazing rivalry," said Nadal while referring to Djokovic after the game. In a personal way, I have to say that you helped me to go over my limits during almost 15 years. So thank you for that because without that probably I will not be the player that I am today.
“It has been a dream come true to be able to play for almost 20 years being competitive and having the chance to play in the best places in the world.”
Djokovic also looked fairly emotional after the contest and described the rivalry as "very intense" and also urged Nadal not to retire and "stay a bit longer" on the court.
“I have the utmost respect for you: incredible athlete, incredible person,” Djokovic was quoted as saying by Tennis365.
“The rivalry has been incredible and has been very intense, so I hope that we’ll have a chance to maybe sit on the beach somewhere and maybe have a little drink and reflect on life, talking about something else.
“I will finish with one big thank you, from not just me, but all of the tennis world for what you have done. You left an incredible legacy and we really appreciate it.
“Don’t leave tennis man, stay a little bit longer, stay with us.”
