Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal: The 3 Best encounters
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are the current top two players in the ATP rankings and are the greatest players tennis have ever witnessed. Federer has 20 major titles, while Nadal has 17 and both of them lead the list of men's all-time most major titles. As far as facing each other is concerned, they have played 38 matches against each other on the clay, grass as well as the hard courts.
The Federer-Nadal rivalry is one of the most famous affairs in all of sports. Like Ind-Pak or Aus-Eng in cricket, the El-Classico of Football, the Federer-Nadal rivalry has seen it all. Out of the 38 occasions, Federer has won 15 while Nadal has won 23.
When it comes to Grand-slams, Nadal leads the tally by 9-3. They both faced each other for the first time in 2004 and since then, each and every facing has turned out to be a nail-biting match-up.
Here are the three best encounters between them ever.
#3 Final, NASDAQ Open-100, Miami, 2005
Federer and Nadal faced each other for the second time in their career in the NASDAQ-100 Open Finals in Miami. The hard court was all set for an enthralling encounter. During their first encounter, the Spaniard had defeated the Swiss 6-3,6-3.
It was the time for Federer to take a year old revenge in the finals. The balls were flying and exploding from both the ends. Nadal won the first two sets quite comprehensively 6-2, 7-6. He was on the third set tie-break, only two points away from the title.
But, Federer was not any less, he bounced back really hard with four consecutive points to force the fourth set. Federer won the third set by 7-6(5).
Then, in the final two sets, Roger pounced on the Spaniard. He easily won the fourth set 6-3, followed by 6-1. He dominated Nadal with the late heroics to win the title, coming back from two sets down. Certainly, this match made it clear that this duo will have some fantastic games in the coming future.
Here are highlights of that match: