Rafael Nadal keeps on surprising everyone. The Spanish legend had an amazing comeback in 2017 to win 6 titles (2 slams) and be again the new world no.1.

Rafa’s biggest rival, Roger Federer, has never hidden his admiration for his nemesis, and once again he had to admit that Nadal has surprised him.

Why Roger was surprised with Nadal winning Beijing.

Nadal has now a sizeable lead over Roger in the rankings (+2300pts, see rankings), and after winning the US Open, Federer was expecting Nadal to pull out from Beijing to save some energy. The Swiss commented

“This [title in Beijing] is a really big win for him.

“So, for him to go to Beijing and win it right away… I expected him to pull out, to be honest. Why not? And come here to Shanghai. Or maybe just skip Asia totally. You know, why not? 

There is no reason for him to push it too hard, but that’s Rafa.”

Nadal will kick-start his Shanghai campaign against Jared Donaldson on Wednesday.