Roger Federer bows out to Rafael Nadal in Abu Dhabi once again – Tennis News
Two tennis titans, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, went one-on-one against each other in the third place match of an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi and it was Nadal who stood victorious once again. The second Spaniard registered
a 6-1, 7-5, score line to claim the third place at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Saturday afternoon.
The highly anticipated contest was played on the hard courts of The Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex at the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Both Federer and Nadal were awarded a bye to play the semi-final
match of the $250,000 winner-takes-all tournament and unfortunately both of them suffered humiliating defeats in the round of four to get sidelined from the race to the title shot.
The Swiss maestro, Federer, was the first one to receive heavy loss at the hands of the world number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, in the semi-final round. He was blown away by the Serbian wind in straight sets, 2-6, 1-6, while
Nadal was dumped by his fellow compatriot, David Ferrer, 3-6, 2-6, in the semi-final clash of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship. Nadal then took on Federer for the third place match on Saturday and faced no real difficulty in disposing of his arch rival
in the most authoritative fashion.
“It was a positive match,” stated Nadal in his post match reviews. “I played better than yesterday and that was the most important [thing].”
A nail-biting contest was anticipated between the two top class rivals but to the dismay of the local crowd, it proved to be a totally one-sided affair in the beginning. Nadal’s dominance prevailed throughout the contest, with
his Swiss opponent straining hard to pose some resistance. The Spaniard nailed two early serve breaks to get hold of the opener and kept his lead till the end to pocket the set number one with a breadstick at 6-1.
A more competitive second set was witnessed, with Federer exhibiting some spark of his vintage form to take the score to 5-5. The Swiss maestro couldn’t hold much longer and a crucial break of serve in the 11th game
shifted the momentum to Nadal’s favour once again. The world number two served out of the match at 7-5 to register a convincing victory over Federer and avenging his last defeat he suffered at the hands of the Swiss at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in
London last month.
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