Nadal stormed to glory at the US Open earlier this month to clinch his 19th Grand Slam title.
He came through a tough test against Daniil Medvedev, a man in form on the hardcourts throughout the summer.
It also follows on from his 12th French Open title earlier this year, making it only the second time since 2013 where Nadal has won two Grand Slams in a year.
More importantly though, he sits just one Grand Slam behind Federer’s all-time record of 20 and has age on his side.
Nadal is five years Federer’s junior with the latter dropping more and more hints about his career shortly coming to an end.
Still, the Swiss tennis legend has proven this year that he can still go toe-to-toe with the best of them with the 2019 Wimbledon final a prime example.
Whether he wins one more or if Nadal will in fact catch him remains to be seen, but Federer has nothing but respect for his long-time rival and what he has achieved in 2019.
“Winning two Slams over one year is unbelievable,” he said.
“He had to change something after dealing with issues on hard courts and he did it.
“After Monte Carlo he started dominating.
“With him I am never surprised because I know what he is a capable of.
“For me it’s a deep satisfaction to play at such an age.
“I am just trying to keep winning and playing for Grand Slam wins.
“We will see how the race will go at the end.
“It’s an amazing time for tennis with three players who were able to win so much.
“I try to have my best career, Rafa too.
“Everyone, including Djokovic, wants to be fit and healthy.”
