World No.45 Marcos Giron hailed Rafael Nadal for his consistency on the court. Nadal won a total of 22 Grand Slam titles in his glorious career and retired from the sport in 2024 after playing in the Davis Cup for Spain.

The Spaniard was struggling with injuries and his fitness in the last couple of seasons and thus decided to call time on his glittering career.

Meanwhile, Giron said he wasn’t a big Rafael Nadal fan before his opening-round clash against the Spaniard in the Australian Open 2022. Nadal registered a convincing 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win against Giron in Melbourne and the American said his perspective towards the veteran changed after that match.

Nadal went on to win the Australian Open in 2022 after beating Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller.

Marcos Giron said on Russo and Rizzo podcast, “Hard not to be a fan of Federer, Del Potro, Novak. Rafa, I feel like, I wasn’t a fan until I played him when I really got to appreciate him – he’s a helluva player. Yeah, yeah, I kind of thought he was always full of it, like “Oh no, I respect every guy” but he is like that, he’s just a genuine, nice dude. But he’s a killer on court. He’s a good dude, and I respect the hell out of him, and all of them.”

According to the show’s website, the two men Russo and Rizzo, “Combine forces for a high energy show using their sports knowledge, fandom and life experiences to provide fans an engaging, interesting, and thought-provoking show each day.”

Meanwhile, Giron has reached the quarter-final of the Delray Beach Open and he will take on Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanović on Friday.