Madridista tennis stars

The top three players in the world united by their passion for Real Madrid


Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic are the three top-ranked players on the ATP Tour and the best tennis players on earth. But despite their competitive nature on the court, they are linked by one passion: Real Madrid. All three have publically manifested their Madridista sentiment at one time or another, and all three are currently in the Spanish capital this week for the Tennis Masters Series.


Roger Federer has been the world number one in tennis longer than any other player in history. His supremacy has only been challenged by Rafa Nadal on the clay courts of Roland Garros. The Swiss visited Valdebebas and met the First Team players during his stay in Madrid for last year's Masters Series, during which he expressed his heartfelt excitement to hang out with the squad. "I'm a big football fan. I didn't have a chance to meet any players during my two previous visits. I was thrilled to meet them and to visit their training facility. It's a dream come true. I would have liked to be a football player had I not gotten into tennis. It was an incredible experience," said Federer.


Rafael Nadal is on his way to becoming the best Spanish player of all time. At the age of 21, he has already won three French Opens and played in two Wimbledon finals. No one in Spain can forget that he is the nephew of legendary FC Barcelona player Miguel Ángel Nadal. But Rafa has always publically expressed his Madridismo and visits the Bernabéu to see his team whenever he has the chance. In fact, he was on hand for the final match of last season when the Whites won the League title. Last week on El Larguero of Spanish radio's Cadena SER, Rafa not only declared his Madridismo, but his Raulismo as well, saying, "Raúl was, and is, the best Spanish player ever."


Novak Djokovic is the third-ranked player on the ATP. He has had a spectacular season on the hard courts, having won in Adelaide, Vienna, Miami, and Montreal, and faced off against Roger Federer in the final of the US Open. The Serb is such a big football aficionado that he walked onto the court for his first match of the Masters Series Madrid wearing a Real Madrid shirt with Raúl's name and number '7' on the back. Two days earlier, he held a press conference during which he was wearing an adidas Real Madrid sweatshirt. "Atletico Madrid fans may not like this too much," he joked. Djokovic had planned on visiting Valdebebas the same morning of his first match against Fernando Verdasco, but was unable to due to his match start time.
After his tournament debut, Ramón Calderón and Raúl presented Djokovic with a personalised Real Madrid shirt. "I have always been a Raúl fan and Real Madrid supporter. They had given me a Raúl shirt some time ago and I decided to wear it. But after today's match, the captain himself and the President gave me another with my name on the back. I really like Real Madrid."

this is djokovic:

this is federer:

this is Nadal: