Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer – Third place match preview: Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2011
World number two, Rafael Nadal, squares off against the world number three, Roger Federer, for the third place at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2011, an exhibition event taking place at the Abu Dhabi International
Tennis Complex at Zayed Sports City.
The Spanish number one, Nadal, fell to his compatriot, David Ferrer, in the semi-finals of this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Exhibition event held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Federer on the other hand,
lost to the world number one, Novak Djokovic, with a breadstick to set-up this meeting. Both veterans are facing each other for the 28th time, with Nadal leading the head-to-head series by 18-9.
The defending champion, Nadal, enjoyed a relatively successful season this year so far. He grabbed three championship titles this year including the French Open and made seven title-round appearances (lost to Djokovic in
six of them including the US Open and the Wimbledon Championships). The King of Clay also extended his winning streak on the clay to 37 matches (including clinching titles at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and the Barcelona Open, where he defeated Ferrer in
the final rounds) before ousting in the title-round of the Mutua Madrid Open (lost to the Serbian number one).
The Swiss Master on the other hand won 17 out of his last 18 matches. His 17 match winning streak was rewarded with regaining of the third spot in the ATP rankings and three titles. He grabbed titles at the Swiss Indoor Basel
(crushed Japanese wild card, Kei Nishikori, with breadstick), Paris Masters 1000 event (destroyed French number one, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London (rallied past Tsonga again in three sets in the final round). Federer
also conquered Doha, the first tournament he played in 2011, and ended the 42 match unbeaten run of Djokovic in the semi-finals of the French Open this season.
The third seeded Federer might be trailing in the head-to-head series but he drilled through the Spaniard with a bagel on their last meeting at the ATP World Tour Finals. He smacked six massive aces and took 61 minutes to
slay Nadal with an exceptional 6-3, 6-0 success. The Swiss clobbered a lower first serve share of 68 percent as opposed to Nadal’s 73 percent but registered a superb 85 percent win on it. He also faced no breakpoints and converted two out of six break opportunities
to her advantage. His return point winning share of 54 percent was also much better than the Spaniard’s 20 percent.
A former world number one, Federer, had won last four matches in a row against a left-handed player and clinched seven out of last eight against a top ten player. The Swiss tennis star was the last year’s runner-up in this
exhibition tournament and thus received a bye from the quarter-final round. He needs to re-kindle his last four months’ spark to shock the high spirited Spaniard. Federer should maintain his focus throughout the match and capitalise on break opportunities.
He is expected to formulate a 7-5, 6-3 victory over the Spanish number one.
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