It’s the match everybody at Wimbledon wants to see, again. The man many consider to be the greatest player in tennis history, Roger Federer, taking on his longtime rival and tennis kryptonite, Rafael Nadal. They’ve played 21 times in their careers, and three times in the finals of Wimbledon. Federer has won twice at Wimbledon over Nadal, but Nadal has dominated their career matchups, going 14-7 against the native of Switzerland.
Because tournament seedings are based on rankings, the unique position of Federer and Nadal ensures that they almost always fall on different sides of the bracket, meaning they almost always meet in the finals when they do. 17 of their 21 matches fall under such a category, and 7 of those have been in Grand Slam finals.
Nadal’s coming out party
When Nadal beat Federer in their first ever match in 2004, the world took notice. It was a premonition of things to come when the previous virtual unknown, ranked 34th in the world managed to upset the no. 1 seeded Federer. Afterwards Nadal shot straight up the rankings, losing to Federer in a come-from-behind victory in the process.
At Wimbledon, the three matches they’ve played have been a story of constant improvement for Nadal, who is better known as a clay-court player rather than a master of the fast grass of the All-England Lawn and Tennis Club. The first match Federer controlled his foe, winning in straight sets. The second match though Nadal came back stronger, taking Federer to a fifth set. Nadal dominated the fourth set and looked to almost have broken Federer, until the resilient no. 1 seed battled back and won the fifth.
Their final match at Wimbledon in 2008 is often considered the greatest match in tennis history. A five set, back and forth struggled ended only when Nadal won the fifth-set tie-break 9-7, famously dropping to his knees overwhelmed after his incredible victory in the increasing darkness in England.
Since then Nadal has been the no. 1 seed in the world for most of the time, after so many years of playing second fiddle to Federer. Federer though has shown his trademark resilience and recaptured top spot, and will be looking to do again. Another stint at the top would give him the record for most weeks spent as the top-ranked player in the world, which is currently held by former great Pete Sampras.
But much of the reason so many people know Nadal’s name is because of the way he beats Federer. Many people win titles, but only Nadal can make the claim to consistently beating the best in the world. Together though, they’ve been almost unstoppable, winning 19 of the past 21 Grand Slam tournaments, often facing each other in the finals.
Nadal now the favourite
Nadal’s ability to defeat Federer is somewhat perplexing in that he alone seems to be able to do it. Given that Federer has shattered virtually every major men’s tennis record, it seems counter-intuitive that Nadal could keep doing what he’s doing- beating Federer.
But this time, if Nadal and Federer do end up going head to head, it should be Nadal who will be the rightful favourite, despite Federer’s almost complete dominance at Wimbledon over the past seven years.
Federer looked shaky as he was almost shocked in his opening match, going down two sets to nothing before pulling out a trademark gritty comeback- something he’s done to Nadal. But many people noted that had it been Nadal on the court instead of Alejandro Falla, Federer would have gone down to a loss.
On top of which Nadal was won five of their past six meetings, definitively eclipsing the greatest pro in history.
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