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Rafael Nadal is undeniably one of the greatest tennis players to have ever existed, and had injuries not plagued his entire career, there’s a good argument to suggest that he would have been even more successful too.

However, after enduring many years of faltering fitness and playing through the pain, last year saw the Spaniard announce his retirement, playing his final match at the Davis Cup.

It really seems that, since departing the sport to which he gave so much of his life, Rafael Nadal is content.

After all, he has so many business ventures to tend to, alongside an academy to manage.

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Despite that, it seems his interest in tennis remains, and whenever he is asked a question on the current state of the sport, he seems genuinely keen to provide an insightful answer.

This particular occasion saw him look back over the entire history of the sport though, as he decided who should be on his Mount Rushmore of tennis.

Rafael Nadal names his four greatest tennis players of all time

Nadal is far from the first superstar to be asked this question; Andre Agassi named his Mount Rushmore of tennis earlier this year.

It is interesting that the American actually shared three of the four names with Nadal, although Agassi did leave the fourth face uncarved as he couldn’t pick between a few legendary names.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion was not so hesitant though, actually rattling off his quartet with ease.

Nadal claimed: “Rod Laver, [Novak] Djokovic, [Roger] Federer and probably myself to be honest. Yeah, I mean, I’m humble enough, but to be clear, the numbers say that.”

Rafael Nadal explains the difference between playing Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer

It should come as no surprise that Nadal’s two greatest rivals, Djokovic and Federer, made it onto his Mount Rushmore.

And, it’s even more pertinent given he was recently quizzed about that duo, asked to differentiate between playing such legendary figures.

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He swiftly admitted: “It’s completely different.”

Nadal continued: “I think with Novak, the match is more equal, more predictable. But at the same time, it was more difficult for me to have a real tactic on it because you need to play very well and just the small details to beat him.

“To beat him, you need to [be] unbelievable and that’s the truth. And against Roger, the styles were so different, I think that made the matches a little more interesting for the people. I had a better clear way of how to approach the match with Roger.”