The connection between Federer and Nadal: “It's nice to be able to call one of your biggest rivals 'friend'”

The Swiss and the Spanish will play a friendly tournament in Cape Town on Friday, where the public record is broken (50,000)

• Rafael Nadal.
  

  “Preference that Thiem won in Australia, I'm not hypocritical”
  

Roger Federer Y Rafael Nadal, together again for a cause of solidarity. The Swiss and Spanish will meet this Friday at “The Match in Africa” ​​at Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town (one of the 2010 South Africa World Cup venues), with capacity for more than 50,000 people, where beat the public world record.

“Only Rafa could make this event something really special for the people here, I have a connection with Rafa and if anyone could bring him to South Africa it was me“Federer said this Wednesday at the Cape Town airport.” I asked him, he said right away and we have been fighting over the date for the past two years, “he joked.

About the Mallorqun, to arrive this Thursday, he also said that it is “nice to be able to call one of your biggest rivals 'friend'. Nadal, however, is not his only rival, since in addition to the individual meeting between the two champions, a doubles tournament will also be held, in which the Spanish team up with the South African player Trevor Noah and Federer with the entrepreneur Bill gates.

For the Swiss tennis player, this game is “special” because it is the first time he plays in South Africa, the land where his mother was born and where he still has a family. The meeting is organized by its foundation and, thanks to the sale of tickets, sponsorships and donations, expects to raise more than one million dollars for educational projects.

Federer confesses that he develops “projects” with this kind of passion, despite the fact that he is “shy” when talking about them. “(The Match in Africa) connects all the (relevant) points for me: playing tennis, raising money, showing people what you do, (e) inspiring others,” said current issue No. 3 of the ATP world. . Also, I ruled out an imminent withdrawal from the professional circuit: “I feel pretty good and I feel that I can still compete at the highest level,” he said.