Rafael Nadal versus Roger Federer: the arch rivals – Part Six
The Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer rivalry is one of the most talked about famous in the world of tennis. They have faced each other on a variety of occasions so far in their career. Given below is the sixth instalment describing
the pair’s overall encounters on the tour:
11. 2007 Masters Series Hamburg: title battle
Former world number one Roger Federer had played in four competitions without winning a title, which was his lengthiest crown drought of his 172-week period as an ATP number one player on the tour. He did well to end Rafael’s eighty
one match clay winning streak and 16-0 mark in clay court finals, denying Rafael a momentous sweep of the clay ATP Masters Series trophies as Federer in the end lifted the Hamburg title on the fourth occasion in his career.
After the opening set in which the sixteen times Grand Slam champion faced break points in his first three service games and missed five games in a row, Roger changed course and took the attack to Nadal. The 29-year-old then conceded
only six points on serve during the middle set and seven points on serve in the decisive set to seal win in the end. The final match score was 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.
12. 2007 Masters Series Monte-Carlo: title battle
Roger Federer entered Monte-Carlo on the heels of two surprising early exits, seeing his career high fourteen-match winning streak come to an end with a first round defeat at the hands of Guillermo Canas in Indian Wells, followed
by his fourth round exit at Miami. The Swiss native, however, once again gained rhythm at the season’s first clay court event and made his way into the finals where he met Rafael Nadal of Spain.
The Spaniard, who missed serve only on three occasions in his five clashes, however, proved too strong in the pair’s first clash of 2007. Currently ranked number one in the South African Airways ATP list, Nadal broke his opponent’s
serve once in both sets and prevented all three break points he faced to pick up his eighth Master Series trophy on the tour. The 24-year-old, by virtue of this win, also extended his Open Era record-winning streak on clay to a total of sixty seven clashes.
The final match score was 6-4, 6-4.
13. 2006 Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai; semi-final round
The Swiss superstar, Roger Federer, who is currently ranked number two in the South African Airways ATP list, posted his second win over Rafael in a row, finishing with a vicious cross-court winner to set his name in the history
as the first contender to make his way into four title battles in a row at a circuit-ending competition since Ivan Lendl.
Right from the start of the opening set, the Fed Express dominated his Spaniard foe and broke early and maintained that lead with another break after forty nine minutes of play.
Rafa bounced back into the match on two occasions on match points during the tenth game however could not hold on for long as the Swiss wrapped up the victory two games later. The final match score was 6-4, 7-5.
Federer, later on, went on to pick up his twelfth trophy on the tour after getting the better of James Blake in the final and thus finished with a 92-5 win loss mark on the season.
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