Watch: 'You were a little bit arrogant'- After sitting atop several tennis records, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal sit on a mountain to discuss their rivalry

When the pair was asked if they remembered meeting for the first time, Nadal put his hands up and recalled the moment.

Federer, meanwhile, admitted that he does not remember when it happened. Nadal then revealed that it was 2003 when Federer won his first Wimbledon title. The Spaniard then joked about Federer being “a little bit arrogant.“

I do remember, probably not him. When you won your first Wimbledon, it was 2003. You were a little bit arrogant. No, honestly, you were super nice. I was just arriving on the tour and just a junior, so I was super shy to talk to you. But you were very nice. Rafael Nadal said to Roger Federer about their first meeting.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s first on-court meeting

While Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had interacted with each other before their first-ever match on the tour, the two stalwarts locked horns for the first time in 2004. Nadal and Federer played against each other for the first time at the Miami Open.

On March 28, 2004, Federer and Nadal faced off against each other in the first round of the ATP 1000 tournament. While the match was expected to go in the Swiss’ favor, Nadal pulled off a memorable win as the Spaniard beat Federer in straight sets in just 70 minutes. 

Nadal announced himself on the big stage, defeating the then-world number 1 6-3, 6-3 in a tournament where Federer had enjoyed a great run before that match.

With the win, Nadal broke Federer’s 12-match winning streak and became the second man that season –along with the then No. 10 Tim Henman- to break through the Swiss wall in the 25 matches he had played until that point.

The two players went on to play 40 matches against each other after that, and the Spaniard enjoyed an upper hand with the head-to-head record skewed 24-16 in his favor. Nadal and Federer played their last match at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.