Roger “the Maestro” Federer and Rafael “Rafa” Nadal: The Beginning of a Rivalry
Tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will face each other in their third match on American soil later tonight, when the two players clash at the semi-final of the 2011 ATP Masters World Tour 1000 Miami in Key Biscayne,
Florida. Keeping their comprehensive rivalry in mind, fans may find it hard to accept that the two players have only played against each other twice in the US.
Fortuitously enough, Rafa and the Maestro played the first match in the history of their rivalry right here on the hard courts of Miami. They met in the 2004 Miami Masters, competing against each other for a spot in the fourth
round of the tournament. Roger Federer was 22 years old at the time, and had recently ascended to the top spot as World Number 1 in February. He had also crossed a number of important milestones over the past year, such as his victories at the 2003 Wimbledon
Championships and the 2004 Australian Open. These were his first two Grand Slams, and marked the beginning of a career which has seen fourteen more trophies over the years.
Federer’s first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon was against Mark Philippoussis, whom he defeated in three sets 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(3). He went on to win his only doubles tournament to date, teaming up with Max “the Beast” Mirnyi to
set records at the same Miami event in which he met Nadal for the first time.
Rafael Nadal was a young professional player from Spain, having joined the Association of Tennis Professionals at the budding age of 14. He was ranked World Number 34 in 2004, when he was 17 years old. The player was definitely
well known, a fact which Roger Federer testified to by saying, “"I remember seeing him for a bit over a year, I think, because he had a breakthrough maybe in Monaco the year before or somewhere else.”
Federer, who was asked about the match itself recently, commented, “What I remember from seven years ago when I played him the first time is that I came back from sun stroke in Indian Wells after beating Henman, and kind of dragged
my way through the match (here) with Davydenko. I don't know how much I had actually heard about Nadal before that match ... I knew he was good.”
However, the young Spaniard shattered all expectations by taking control of the hard courts to defeat Federer in straight sets at the third round of the Miami tournament. The entire tennis world was shocked, and so began one of
the most storied rivalries of all time.
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