The ATP Finals 2024 is not far away, and the promotions for the same have already begun. The tournament’s most successful player, Novak Djokovic, is set to skip it despite standing a good chance to qualify automatically. This could be why the ATP is now banking on the nostalgia Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have given to tennis fans over the years.
A few days ago, across social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Twitter, a video of Federer’s 2019 win over Djokovic went viral. It was in the group stages when the two icons clashed in what proved to be the last time they played in the tournament.
Federer was exceptional in many points, showing that even at the age of 38, he had it in him to win big matches. The Swiss star, in the back of his mind, had the heartbreaking final loss at Wimbledon against the Serb a few months prior to that, that too in the same city.
However, Djokovic conceded that he played a ‘really bad match’ on the day. It helped Federer that the recently-retired Dominic Thiem defeated the former World No.1 in their first group match, which put Djokovic under more pressure coming into the big clash.
It also happened to be the last win Federer had, not only against Djokovic in their iconic rivalry of 50 matches but also in the ATP Finals. This is because right after that, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Federer in the semifinals, shattering his dream of winning the year-ending championship for the seventh time.
2024 is the fifth anniversary of Federer’s special win. So while TennisTV thought it was the right thing to showcase that throwback video, they weren’t done as Nadal was up next in the content plan.
Nadal’s 2022 ATP Finals appearance gains more significance
Nadal had a record until 2021 of qualifying for every ATP Finals event for 16 years in a row. That is his best achievement in the tournament so far. Apart from that, he would perhaps only remember the ATP Finals for winning his last-ever match, which was in the 2022 edition.
Although Nadal entered the 2022 ATP Finals tournament in Turin as the No.1 seed, he could not capitalize on the advantage he received by playing the alternate, Taylor Fritz in his first match, and Felix Auger-Aliassime in his second match. Losing both of them ended the Spaniard’s chances of making it to the semifinals.
However, Nadal found his groove in the last match against his mentee, Casper Ruud. The 22-time Grand Slam champion won 7-5, 7-5, which delighted fans around the world. Little would he have known that he would never play in the year-ending tournament again.
Vintage Rafa
Watch extended highlights of @RafaelNadal‘s final #NittoATPFinals victory in Turin 2022 here!
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 3, 2024
Interestingly, that was also the last match Nadal played as a top-10 player in the ATP rankings. While fans waited for the 14-time French Open champion to bring back his competitiveness from the 2022 season to 2024, unfortunately, that did not happen.
At the ATP Finals 2024 in Turin, it could be the first time in 20 years that none of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic will play in the competition, truly marking the end of an era.
