Ronnie O’Sullivan claims Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal cannot be replaced

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The snooker star thinks Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are irreplaceable

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are the two of the greatest tennis stars to ever grace the game. The duo have won 20-Grand Slam titles each and have been dominating the tennis circuit for more than two decades now.

The duo along with Novak Djokovic was praised by Ronnie O’Sullivan, who is regarded as one of the best players of snooker. Comparing him and his fellow snooker stars John Higgins and Mark Williams with the Big Three of tennis – O’Sullivan said:

“In tennis you look at Federer, Nadal and Djokovic who are such greats and have dominated the sport for so long – and in the recent ATP Finals you didn’t have two of them.

Maria Francisca Perello
Nadal has won 13 titles at Roland Garros in his career

“They are really hard to replace, you almost can’t replace Federer and Nadal, they are one-offs for their sport for what they have achieved.

“So it is a new era for tennis, will there ever be again a time when two or three players break away and are that much better and do it in that style? So absolutely I can see why people have occasionally made that comparison to snooker and myself, John Higgins and Mark Williams.”

Roger Federer French Open
Roger Federer after winning his first and only-ever title at the French Open back in 2009. (Getty Images)

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal domination

Federer and Nadal are locked at 20 Slam titles each and hold the joint record for Men’s singles Slam titles. The Swiss last won a Grand Slam title at the 2018 Australian Open. The Spaniard then extended his record at the French Open to 13 titles last year and equalled Fedex on Grand Slam titles overall.

There was always a healthy rivalry between the two of the greatest players and the fans were always divided in the debate over who is better than one. Since their early days, there was never a room for the third unless Djokovic came out of nowhere.

Nadal and Federer were the duos who were just unchallengeable during the peak of their game. The duo were seen as the real fortresses at Roland Garros and Wimbledon respectively.

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Nadal and Federer are now facing injury issues and fans are really worried about whether they will ever see them at their best again keeping their age in mind as well. 

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