Rafael Nadal recently revealed that he cried when Roger Federer won the French Open title in 2009, the only time in the past decade Nadal himself hadn’t hoisted the Coupe des Mousquetaires. Said Nadal of Federer: “He deserved to win all four slams.”

This week, in a revealing interview with the Spanish daily El Pais, Nadal expounded on why he shed tears of joy when his longtime rival won that title.

“I am one of those people who believes that when you work towards something and you deserve it, the logical thing is for you to eventually achieve it.”

Oh, it was tears of joy, not tears of “oh my goodness, Federer can beat Robin Soderling but I can’t?” That makes sense, I guess.

In 2008, Nadal barely celebrated his fourth-straight French Open title out of respect for Federer, who he routed 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in the final. With Nadal out of the picture in 2009, courtesy his upset by Soderling, Federer had a clear path to completing the career Slam.

When interviewer Juan Jose Mateo asked Nadal whether he’ll cry if Novak Djokovic wins the French Open for his own career Slam, Nadal hedged.

“I don’t know whether I will be moved to tears by Djokovic. It will depend on the situation, the feelings and the emotions of the moment. That kind of thing cannot be predicted. Either it happens or it doesn’t.”

Translation: Nope.