Novak Djokovic has joined the wave of tributes going towards his great rival Rafael Nadal as the latter announced his retirement from tennis on Thursday. Nadal, winner of 22 Grand Slams, calls time on a career that goes down as one of the greatest the sport has ever seen. He dominated tennis for nearly two decades along with Djokovic, who has won 24 Grand Slams thus far, and 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, collectively called the ‘Big 3’.

Nadal is set to retire after turning up for Spain in the Davis Cup Finals in November. This would mean that Djokovic will be the only remaining member of the Big 3 to stay active. The Serb, aged 37, remains at the top of the food chain in men's tennis though, currently ranked fourth in the ATP standings.

Federer paid tribute to Rafael Nadal in a reply to the post in which the Spaniard announced his retirement and has since added a number of images to his story of the22-time Grand Slam champion. Djokovic has now penned his own tribute.

“Rafa, one post is not enough to express the respect I have for you and what you have done for our sport. You have inspired millions of children to start playing tennis and I think that’s probably greatest achievement anyone can wish for,” Djokovic said in a lengthy post on Instagram.

“Your tenacity, dedication, fighting spirit is going to be taught for decades. Your legacy will live forever. Only you know what you had to endure to become icon of tennis and sport in general. Thank you for pushing me to the very limit so many times in our rivalry that has impacted me the most as a player. Your passion for representing Spain has always been remarkable.”

Serbia did not qualify for the Davis Cup Finals but Djokovic said that he will be there to pay his respects. “I wish you best possible farewell in Malaga with Davis Cup team of Spain. I will be there in person to pay respect to your stellar career,” he said.

Djokovic and Nadal are known to have played some of the most intense matches in the past 20 years having first at the French Open in 2006. Nadal had won that match. Incidentally the last match between the pair was also at Rolland Garros at the Paris Olympics. This time, Djokovic comprehensively beat the Spaniard.

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