Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal-Tennis' Greatest Rivalry

Nadal leads Federer 13-7 in career meetings.

Federer has beaten Nadal only twice out of eleven career meetings on clay.

Nadal beat Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final in an epic match that is considered by many as the best match of all time with a score of 6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(8) 9-7.

Okay lets get down to business. I've touched upon the contrasting styles and mental make-ups of Federer and Nadal in the introduction. If you look at all the great rivalries this was one of the key ingredients.Borg was the emotionless, calm base liner, while everyone is aware of the antics of John Mcenroe, his emotional outbursts is the stuff of legend.

But not only was their psychological make-ups a stark contrast but so was their playing styles. Mcenroe was the attacking serve-and-volley player. Same thing for the Sampras-Agassi rivalry. Sampras had the big serve and the attacking serve-and-volley game, while Agassi had the best return and ground strokes maybe in the history of tennis.

Sampras was quite and calm, while Agassi was intense and flamboyant, also known as the showman from Las Vegas. Just like these great rivalries Nadal-Federer is not short of any contrast. Federer is the ultimate gentleman. He plays with a considerable amount of grace, finesse and touch. In a game that is mostly dominated by power he shows that it is still possible to outsmart opponents with skill and finesse.



Its only a player with the genius of Federer that can achieve this rare feat though. Not that he has his fair share of deadly weapons in the arsenal. Federer plays with a combination of power and grace that has probably never before been seen in tennis. The same goes for his personality, you would be hard pressed to find a more popular player among fans and opponents alike.

On the other hand Nadal is robust to the extreme. He can intimidate an opponent with the sheer desire to win that he shows out on court. Nadal is all about muscle and guts. He NEVER gives up and plays every point as though his life depended on it. He is mentally maybe the best in the game.

When it comes to sheer natural ability he is light years behind Federer, but he makes up for it with desire and physical presence. His forehand is unorthodox, with the follow through ending up over his left shoulder instead of the right! But then again Nadal never cared as much about appearances as about winning.

The stats would suggest that Nadal has the better of Federer, but it's more complicated then that. Of their eighteen career meetings ten have been on clay, Nadal's favorite surface. Nadal is the best clay-courter of all time. He has won four straight French Open titles now and holds the record for the most consecutive matches won on clay.

So the 12-6 lead Nadal has in career meetings is not a fair reflection of how close these two are. Only three of their meetings have been on grass, Federer's favorite surface. All three meetings was in the Wimbledon final of which Federer won two. The remaining five meeting was on hard courts of course, of which Federer has won three.

So in fact Federer leads Nadal in meetings on all other surfaces then clay. You have to say Nadal has made a big statement by beating Federer in the Wimbledon final this year and making short work of him in the French Open Final. The Wibledon final was for sure a defining moment in their rivalry and in the context of the men's game.



Ever since Nadal has gone from strength to strength, overtaking Federer's number one ranking during the US hard court season, while Federer has had his worst season in 2008 since he shot to the top of the game. Certainly Nadal seems to be on top at present, winning their 4 last meetings. There seems to have been a change of the guard.

However many people think Federer will reclaim the top spot on the ATP rankings in the upcoming season, including myself. Whatever the case may be this rivalry is far from done and in the upcoming 2009 season it promises to be as exciting as ever. Can Federer reclaim his Wimbledon crown? Can Nadal become the first man to win five straight French Open titles?

Can Federer close the gap between him and Nadal in career meetings? Many questions needs to be answered and I for one can't wait to see what the next twist in this fascinating rivalry will be.

During the last year and a half Rafa had clearly been dominating the biggest rivalry in tennis. Roger seemed to be going into steep decline while Rafa was becoming more and more dominant. Up until the Madrid tournament of 2009 Rafa had won their last 5 meetings, including the trashing at the French Open, the historical match at Wimbledon and another epic match in the final of the Australian Open. Utter dominance of the rivalry by the Spaniard, to the point of the rivalry becoming very one sided and being in danger of being just another rivalry.

But just as we thought this once awesome rivalry had come to an end, Roger went ahead and did the unthinkable. After all the demoralizing losses he had suffered at the hands of Rafa over the last year and a half, he beat Rafa for the first time in six matches and on clay of all surfaces. And it was a very convincing victory indeed. Roger clearly wanted to make a statement before the start of the French Open and that is exactly what he did. But inspite of it, Rafa went into the French Open as the overwhelming favorite to become the first man to win five straight French Open titles.



But it was not be. Robin Soderling caused one of the greaest upsets of all time by beating Rafa in the fourth round of his favorite grand slam. This was a very important event in both the careers of Roger and Rafa as well as the rivalry. Overnight Roger became the favorite to win his first French Open after four years of losing to Rafa in Paris. This was a massive opportunity for the Swiss to ressurect his career and prove once and for all that he is the greatest tennis player that ever lived. It wasn't easy going though, within 24 hours of Rafa's shock exit Roger found himself in desperate trouble against Tommy Haas in his own fourth round match.

He made one of his great escapes though and ended up completing the career grand slam. The win over Rafa in Madrid by Roger, the early exit by Rafa at Roland Garros and the fact that Roger went on to win the French is a huge turning point in this rivalry. The head-to-head now stands at 13-7 in favour of Rafa and the grand slam titles are 14-6 in favor of Roger. It could so easily have been a 14-6 head-to-head and 13-7 in grand slam titles, which surely would have meant the end of the rivalry. Yet Roger was far from finished and he is now seemingly back in control of the rivalry.



Remember this rivalry is not just about head to head meetings. It's also about the two players' careers as a whole. You have to say with Roger winning the French Open he has struck a deadly blow in terms of their respective careers. Rafa was the favorite to win the French Open as well as to defend his title at Wibledon, and after that he would have had a shot at completing the calender year grand slam at the US Open. But after losing at the one grand slam that was a lock for him it is now doubtful whether he will even win another grand slam this year.

Roger on the other hand is now the favorite to win back his Wimbledon crown and win a sixth straight US Open at the end of the year. It is now highly doubtful if Rafa will ever cacth up with Roger in grand slam titles, while it is likely that Roger will start closing the gap in the head-to-head mettings even more. But this is not where the problems end for Rafa. He has now lost the momentum he had going into this year when he was utterly dominant, and on top of it he is currently injured. He will be recovered in time to defend his Wimbledon title though which is nice to see.



He now has an aweful amount of work to do if he wants to defend his Wimbledon crown or have a shot at the US Open later this year. How quickly things can change! All credit to Roger for seizing the day and restoring the rivalry. It will now be interesting to see what happens in their next meeting. Hopefully it can be in the final of Wimbledon again. But whenever they meet again, Roger will most likely be the favorite to close the gap. Therefor the rivalry have now been revived and crucially so. Not only for Roger but for tennis as a whole. This rivalry is far from over.

We are in February of 2010, and still Roger and Rafa have not met since their last meeting in Madrid, where Roger got a very important win over his main rival. Ever since that match, Rafa has had a very tough time of it. He has now even slipped to number four in the rankings, after being passed by Djokovic and Murray at the Australian Open. After winning the title last year, Rafa lost to Murray in the quarter finals, costing him a lot of ranking points. After a very disappointing second half to 2009, it looked like Rafa was finding form again at the start of 2010, but it was clear that he is not back to his best yet.



As far as the rivalry goes this year, Roger and Rafa could have met in any one of the three tournaments they have played so far, but it didn't materialize. In the exho in Abu Dhabi, Roger was upset by Soderling before he could meet Rafa in the final, in Doha he was upset by Davydenko in the semi-finals, but when it really mattered in the Oz Open, Roger was in the final but not Rafa. With Rafa starting to slip in the rankings, the rivalry looks to be entering a new phase. If Rafa does not return to number two in the rankings, which looks quite possible, it means Roger and Rafa will not be meeting in finals anymore, but in the earlier rounds of tournaments.

I expect Rafa to make a comeback come the clay court season, which could make for an interesting scenario. Only 4 of their 20 head-to-head meetings has not been in finals. The first was in the round of 32 in Miami in 2004, the second in the semi-finals of Roland Garros in 2005, and the other two was in the semi-finals of the Masters Cup. If Rafa slips even further down the rankings, it means that he could start meeting Roger as early as the quarter finals in tournaments. In fact this could happen at the French Open, where Rafa is likely to be seeded 5th, because he has so many points to defend until then.



This is an interesting scenario, because it will give Roger the chance to improve his head-to-head with Rafa, but it could also be a tough match for him. To get his confidence back, Rafa will need to beat Roger, but it will also give Roger the chance to break down Rafa's fragile confidence even more. Roger is the confident one at the moment, and he needs to use that fact to improve his record against Rafa. If he does not, Rafa may just get his confidence back again and prove to be a real thorn in Roger's side.