While Roig will be the main travelling coach for Raducanu, she will still have close contact with Mark Petchey<\/a>, who is unable to fulfill the full-time role due to his media commitments.<\/p>\n This new collaboration between Raducanu<\/a> and Roig has brought back some interesting comments that the Spaniard made about Nadal in 2018.<\/p>\n After winning his 11th Roland Garros<\/a> title in 2018, Nadal returned to the top of the ATP<\/a> rankings once again.<\/p>\n Nadal had overtaken Roger Federer<\/a> to return to the summit of the rankings, and at the time Roig revealed that this rivalry was the only thing that was keeping him from retiring.<\/p>\n \u201cOn a daily basis, you don\u2019t speak about the world No.1 or being the best ever but Rafa is motivated by it,\u201d Roig told Movistar Plus<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cHere there is a very clear thing \u2013 If Federer hadn\u2019t continued playing, Rafa wouldn\u2019t have done it either. What Federer did, skipping the clay-court season, we don\u2019t speak about it but I think he does it in order to avoid knee injuries.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will see if this year it will happen the same thing because it\u2019s difficult not competing for much time.\u201d<\/p>\n Nadal was 32 years old at the time of these comments, and actually continued playing for another six years.<\/p>\n Nadal was a 17-time Grand Slam champion at the time, and was looking to catch Federer\u2019s record tally of 20 majors.<\/p>\n Using this rivalry as motivation, Nadal would go on to win another 13 titles, including five Grand Slams and four Masters 1000 titles.<\/p>\n After Nadal won the 2022 Australian Open<\/a> in spectacular fashion, he led the men\u2019s Grand Slam title race for the first time in his career after overtaking Federer with his 21st major title.<\/p>\n Roland Garros in 2022 was Nadal\u2019s 22nd Grand Slam title victory in and actually the last time he would win a tournament of any kind.<\/p>\n YearTournamentFinal Result2018Canadian Open (ATP 1000)Nadal beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-2 7-6(4)2019Italian Open (ATP 1000)Nadal beat Novak Djokovic, 6-0 4-6 6-12019Roland Garros (Grand Slam)Nadal beat Dominic Thiem, 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-12019Canadian Open (ATP 1000)Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev, 6-3 6-02019US Open (Grand Slam)Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev, 7-5 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-42020Mexican Open (ATP 500)Nadal beat Taylor Fritz, 6-3 6-22020Roland Garros (Grand Slam)Nadal beat Novak Djokovic, 6-0 6-2 7-52021Barcelona Open (ATP 500)Nadal beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4 6(6)-7 7-52021Italian Open (ATP 1000)Nadal beat Novak Djokovic, 7-5 1-6 6-32022Melbourne Summer Set (ATP 250)Nadal beat Maxime Cressy, 7-6(6) 6-32022Australian Open (Grand Slam)Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev, 2-6 6(5)-7 6-4 6-4 7-52022Mexican Open (ATP 500)Nadal beat Cameron Norrie, 6-4 6-42022Roland Garros (Grand Slam)Nadal beat Casper Ruud, 6-3 6-3 6-0<\/p>\n Federer officially retired from tennis at the Laver Cup<\/a> that year, with Nadal only playing 26 more matches in his career.<\/p>\n After the Spaniard waved farewell at the 2024 Davis Cup<\/a> Finals, he received a tribute ceremony at Roland Garros this year where rivals including Federer were there to celebrate Nadal\u2019s career<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Rafael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1415079183-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Frey\/TPN\/Getty ImagesFrancis Roig said Roger Federer was the only reason Rafael Nadal had not retired in 2018<\/p>\n![\"RAFAEL](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-904386078-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Chaz Niell\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n