Roger Federer’s Tearful Tribute To ‘Rival’ Nadal Is Exactly Why He’s The G.O.A.T

Roger Federer is one player whose sportsmanship and humility never fails to impress fans all over the world. Whether it is the Swiss Tennis ace’s form in the game, which has earned him the title of G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) or his attitude off the field that makes us respect him more each time.

Federer has done it again and shown us why he is in a position where so many love and respect him when he spoke about his long-time rival on the court, Rafael Nadal.

As reported by ESPN, Federer fought back tears after winning the sportsman and comeback of the year gongs at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Monaco.

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A post shared by Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) on Feb 18, 2018 at 8:50am PST

Receiving the award, Federer spoke about the journey he shared with Nadal all these years and said,

“To my rival Rafa, I wanted to just give a shoutout to him. He had an unbelievable year himself. We had a great battle and it’s because of a guy like him, I feel like I’ve become a better player as well. He could very well be here as well and standing here with this award. He’s an incredible player, incredible friend, an incredible athlete.”

Yes, I know your heart has turned to mush, seeing how amazing this man is, but there’s more!

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📸 with my doubles partner @RogerFederer! Happy to have played with Roger for a change😉 @LaverCup #TeamEurope 📸 con mi compañero de dobles @RogerFederer👌Muy contento de haber jugado con Roger @LaverCup #TeamEurope

A post shared by Rafa Nadal (@rafaelnadal) on Sep 23, 2017 at 2:18pm PDT

He further went on to add how he had formed a bond with his rival on court and said,

You can watch the video of the speech here:

Roger Federer in the edge of tears while talking about Rafael Nadal at #Laureus18 pic.twitter.com/GJncLBcPM0

— James Gray ??? (@jamestingray) February 27, 2018

Honestly, do we need any more reasons to love this man to bits? Never change!