Nineteen years ago in Miami, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal wrote the first chapter of what would become one of the greatest rivalries in the history of sport, facing 40 times and fighting in the final of nine major tournaments.
Their last meeting took place in the semifinals at Wimbledon last year and these two big rivals will have to wait a few months for a possible 41st match, with the coronavirus which has stopped the tennis season at least until June but probably still more.
ESPN has prepared a 22-hour ‘Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal’ marathon for their viewers, bringing six straight duels between the Swiss and the Spanish, all from the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
The action begins with the 2006 Wimbledon Finals that Roger won 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 in two hours and 58 minutes, ousting the improving rival who was not a contender for the Major on grass in previous years.
Federer forced Nadal to commit more fouls and took the upper hand in the shortest and middle exchanges to forge the triumph, opening a 5-1 lead in the fourth set and sealing the deal three games later to end the fourth consecutive Wimbledon title as third player in the Open era after Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras.
After that, we go to the 2012 Australian Open and their semi-final battle that Nadal won 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 after three hours and 42 grueling minutes.
Nadal lost service three times and took six breaks to cross the finish line first, taking advantage of more than 50 direct faults from Switzerland and controlling the pace in the shortest exchanges to cross the finish line. arrive first and go to final.
In 2007 Roger tied Bjorn Borg’s Open title record with five consecutive Wimbledon crowns, defeating Rafa 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 in three hours and 45 minutes. . In his second consecutive championship game at Wimbledon, Nadal delivered even better tennis than a year ago, winning just seven points less than Federer who started all over in the deciding set to keep the trophy for another year .
The 2017 Australian Open wrote one of their best stories, with both injury injuries in 2016 and a rebound to establish another major final.
This time, it was Federer who won a victory with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in three hours and 38 minutes, winning his 18th major crown and achieving the best possible return.
With his improved backhand, Roger stayed in touch with Rafa in longer exchanges overcoming a 3-1 deficit to win five consecutive games and conquer one of the most exclusive titles of his career.
In July 2008, Federer and Nadal fought for the title at Wimbledon for the third consecutive season, but with a different result from that of 2006 and 2007. In one of the greatest games of all time, Rafa overthrew the King of the All England Club 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 in four hours and 48 minutes, sealing the deal just moments before total darkness and the addition of the fourth major to his count, just after turning 22!
Nadal pushed away 12 of the 13 break chances and it was barely enough to drive him over the finish line, giving up the third and fourth sets in the tie breaks before guaranteeing a crucial break at 7-7, sealing the deal in the next game to begin a massive celebration of what was one of the moments of his tennis journey of which he is most proud.
At the end of this marathon, the ESPN crowd will see another epic encounter in Melbourne in 2009 that Nadal won 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2, taking another big step towards a career in Grand Slam and set out to conquer a major title on three different surfaces.
He had to produce from this world tennis in the semi-finals and the final, ousting Fernando Verdasco in another marathon just to settle this confrontation with Roger and save enough energy to beat the Swiss and lift the trophy after four hours and 19 minutes.
Roger did his best to stay in touch, where Rafa completely dominated him, losing three points behind the initial shot and stealing Federer’s serve in the fourth and eighth games to move up and re-write the history.
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