Analysis Federer–Nadal rivalry

1 analysis

1.1 significant aspects
1.2 comparison of grand slam tournament titles
1.3 comparison of masters 1000 titles
1.4 comparison of year-end championships
1.5 head-to-head tallies

1.5.1 set tallies
1.5.2 hard
1.5.3 clay
1.5.4 grass


1.6 skill comparisons
1.7 media , player commentary

analysis
significant aspects

the rivalry between federer , nadal has been huge part of both men s careers. grand slam tournament histories of particular interest, all-time record of 9 finals encounters. includes playing french open , wimbledon finals 3 consecutive years (2006–08), culminating in many consider greatest match in tennis history @ wimbledon 2008. nadal, had defeat federer during each of first 6 grand slam title runs, possesses 6–3 advantage in finals encounters plus 3 victories in semifinals.

nadal denied federer career grand slam plus 2 potential calendar year grand slams (2006–07) defeating him @ french open every year 2005–08. federer complete career grand slam winning french title in 2009 after nadal upset in fourth round. meanwhile, federer twice denied nadal becoming first man since björn borg in 1980 win channel slam (both french open , wimbledon in same year) defeating him in first 2 wimbledon finals, nadal succeeded following year. first of 3 combined channel slams federer accomplishing in 2009 followed nadal s second in 2010. federer has prevented nadal winning year-end championships defeating him in 2010 finals , eliminating nadal tournament in 2006 , 2007 semifinals preventing nadal becoming second man after andre agassi win career grand slam, gold singles olympic medal, , year end championships, distinction dubbed career super slam sports illustrated. in latest match in 2017 australian open final, federer won record-breaking 18th singles major while denying nadal s second opportunity (the 2014 australian open final first) become first man in open era have won each of grand slams twice in men s singles.

their record 6 consecutive calendar years atop rankings 2005–10 due unprecedented combined performance in grand slam , masters series tournaments. during span, captured combined record 21 of 24 grand slam tournament titles (12 federer, 9 nadal), including record 11 consecutive titles 2005–07. dominated masters series, combining 31 of 54 titles (18 nadal, 13 federer), including 8 of 9 in 2005 (4 each). additionally, federer won 4 of 6 year-end tournaments.

finally, both men not possess open-era records consecutive wins on single surface—federer on both grass (65) , hard courts (56), nadal on clay courts (81)—but each of these streaks broken other player. respective dominance on grass , clay impetus battle of surfaces , exhibition match on half-grass, half-clay court, nadal won 12–10 in deciding tiebreak in may 2007 when both grass , clay streaks still active.

of 38 matches, 20 have been on hard court, 15 have been on clay, , 3 have been on grass. federer has winning record on best surface, grass (2–1), , on hard court (11–9) while nadal leads on best surface, clay (13–2). nadal leads in grand slam tournament matches (9–3), 5 of these wins coming on clay courts of roland garros.

analysts, commentators , pundits increasingly recognize nadal bad matchup federer, heavy topspin created nadal s groundstrokes combined strategy of directing majority of serves , groundstrokes federer s single-handed backhand keeps federer on defensive , makes harder federer use aggressive groundstrokes dominate baseline rallies typically against other opponents. federer says different player due nadal s presence citing nadal s game major reason improvements in areas of own game.

there several factors consider in analyzing head-to-head tally between nadal , federer. nadal s head-to-head advantage built on ability dominate on clay whilst remaining competitive on other 2 surfaces. nadal leads 13–2 margin on clay, statistically strongest surface , federer s weakest, while record on other 2 surfaces combined stands @ 13–10 in federer s favour.

there debate how of role sickness , injury have played in rivalry. federer contracted mononucleosis in late december of 2007 lasted, according doctors, @ least 6 weeks. believe after-effects of illness him throughout year though there evidence on illness march, month before first of matches. nevertheless, chris bowers wrote in biography of federer, federer may have had mild dose, but, looking on federer s 2008, fact played through means medically quite plausible robbed him of strength first half of year . federer suffered injury in 2013. during these years when federer had mononucleosis (2008) , significant year-long injury (2013), went 0–8 against nadal skewed head head record.

another aspect has shaped rivalry has been of racquet equipment. nadal has used large 100 square inch racquet, however, federer used smaller 90 inch racquet in matches 2004-2013. size federer had played since youth, in age of increasing power tennis substantially smaller racquet put him @ disadvantage. during period in nadal enjoyed advantage in racquet equipment complied 22-10 record. in 2014 federer began experimenting larger frame , played nadal in second tournament using larger prototype. nadal won match , took advantage 23-10. however, since federer committed new 97.5 inch wilson prostaff has flipped rivalry upside down going undefeated 5-0 in matches equally modern racquet equipment. many analysts have claimed federer s switch modern sized racquet , subsequent dominance, in addition vast improvements has made single handed backhand, have proven playing handicap of rivalry.

comparison of grand slam tournament titles

as of 2017, roger federer holds all-time record grand slam tournament titles 19. federer s grand slam tournament titles include 10 on hard courts, 8 on grass, , 1 on clay. nadal second on all-time list grand slam titles 16 in total: 10 on clay, 4 on hard courts, , 2 on grass. according economist, when adjusted difficulty of draw, nadal have won men s grand slam titles , marginally more second-placed federer.

both players have won career grand slam (winning 4 majors @ least once).

comparison of masters 1000 titles

rafael nadal holds record 30 masters 1000 titles (tied novak djokovic), 22 of titles on clay , 8 on hard courts. roger federer has 27, 21 coming on hard courts , 6 on clay. nadal missing 3 masters 1000 titles, of played on hard court, (miami, shanghai, , paris) , federer missing two, both of played on clay (monte carlo , rome).

nadal prevented federer winning monte carlo 3 times 2006 2008. beat federer twice in rome finals, in 2006 , 2013. 2006 rome final, won nadal in fifth-set tiebreak, lasted on 5 hours , considered 1 of greatest , memorable matches ever contested on clay.

in 2005, federer prevented nadal winning miami in five-set final. nadal won first , second sets, break in third set, , 2 points away victory before federer came two-sets-down win. nadal made miami final in 2008, 2011, , 2014 lost each time. in 2017, federer again beat nadal in miami final. prevented nadal winning in shanghai, defeating spaniard in final.

comparison of year-end championships

as of 2016, roger federer holds record year-end championship titles six. while nadal has not won year-end championship, has made finals twice, in 2010 , 2013. federer defeated nadal in 2010 finals , leads head-to-head event 4–1.

head-to-head tallies

the following breakdown of head-to-head results:

all matches: nadal, 23–15

clay courts: nadal, 13–2
grass courts: federer, 2–1
hard courts: federer, 11–9

outdoor: nadal, 8–6*
indoor: federer, 5–1

* shanghai masters 2017 final between federer , nadal played roof closed due rain, atp officially counts outdoor match.

all finals: nadal, 14–10

clay courts: nadal, 11–2
hard courts: federer, 6–2

outdoor: federer, 4–2
indoor: federer, 2–0


grass courts: federer, 2–1


grand slam matches: nadal, 9–3

australian open: nadal, 3–1
french open: nadal, 5–0
wimbledon: federer, 2–1


grand slam finals: nadal, 6–3

australian open: tied, 1–1
french open: nadal, 4–0
wimbledon: federer, 2–1


tennis masters cup/atp world tour finals matches: federer, 4–1
tennis masters cup/atp world tour finals finals: federer, 1–0
atp masters series/atp world tour masters 1000 matches: nadal, 12–7
atp masters series/atp world tour masters 1000 finals: nadal, 7–5

clay courts: nadal, 7–2
hard courts: federer, 3–0


best of 5 set matches: nadal, 11–4

five-set matches: tied, 3–3


best of 3 set matches: nadal, 12–11

set tallies

notes

in bold: matches happened in finals.

hard

nadal , federer have played 20 of 38 matches on hard courts, head-to-head on surface @ 11–9 in federer s favour. important distinction relative success of 2 players on indoor , outdoor hard courts. in former, federer leads nadal 5–1 record, while on outdoor hard courts, nadal leads 8–6. quicker conditions , low bounce of indoor hard courts fit federer s style, while slower , high bouncing conditions of outdoor ones favor nadal. federer has defeated nadal in 4 out of 5 encounters have had @ year end championships, including 2010 final, played on indoor hardcourts. surface on have exchanged lead in head-to-head, has happened several times.

despite nadal s success on hard courts, analysts have criticized lack of consistency in reaching hard court tournament finals (especially open finals) potentially skewing overall head-to-head results. in reference match @ 2012 australian open, nadal has said federer typically favourite on these kinds of surfaces .

clay

nadal , federer have played 15 of 38 matches on clay nadal holding 13–2 advantage on federer. 2005 2008, nadal won every french open, defeating federer in each of tournaments (in 2005 semifinal , 2006, 2007, 2008 finals), in 2011 final, , won @ least 2 of 3 clay masters events each year 2005–2010, defeating federer in 6 of those. statistically, nadal has highest win percentage on clay of player in atp history, , third best all-time. result, analysts , players, such pat cash , conchita martínez, consider nadal greatest clay-court player ever. nadal has won of 7 meetings in best of 5 set matches on clay.

grass

federer , nadal have met 3 times on grass, federer ahead 2–1. federer has won wimbledon championships 8 times, , nadal has won championships twice. 5 of federer s titles consecutive titles (from 2003 2007), , sixth, seventh , eighth titles won in 2009, 2012 , 2017. federer , nadal met in 3 consecutive wimbledon finals 2006 2008; federer won first 2 finals, while nadal won last one. 2008 wimbledon final (won nadal) has been lauded greatest match ever many long-time tennis analysts.

skill comparisons

federer considered many greatest tennis player of time while nadal s performance on clay has prompted many experts regard him greatest clay court player , 1 of best tennis players of time.

federer has been more successful nadal on fast courts because hits flatter forehand , has faster serve. grass , indoor hard courts faster surfaces, federer s flatter shots there result in lower bouncing, faster moving trajectory. thus, nadal s topspin less effective on such faster courts, effective on slower courts such clay. nadal has improved serving speed , placement on years, federer still serves faster on average , earns more aces , service winners, while nadal has overall stronger ground stroke game.

while nadal statistically weaker federer on both hard , grass courts, nadal has nonetheless achieved considerable success on both surfaces, including notable wins @ 2008 summer olympics, wimbledon (2008 , 2010), australian open (2009), open (2010, 2013 , 2017), , @ various hard court masters series tournaments.

similarly, federer has achieved considerable success on clay, winning french open (2009) , reaching finals 4 times (2006, 2007, 2008 , 2011) before losing nadal, winning madrid/hamburg open 6 times (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009 , 2012), , winning other titles.

media , player commentary

during interviews, many fellow , former players have regarded both federer , nadal among best tennis players of time. in november 2010, former player björn borg stated believed federer greatest player of time, rafa has chance greatest player if stays healthy.

former player , commentator john mcenroe of similar opinion, noting in 2010 there argument made rafael nadal may greatest player eventually, possibly now. has subsequently adjusted opinion on several occasions, in 2013 noting thought nadal greatest player ever lived later in 2014 bunched federer, nadal, laver , sampras greatest ever. in july 2015, reversed opinion , again backed roger federer title. in january 2017, after federer, 35 years of age , returning competitive play after 6-month layoff due injury, triumphed on nadal in 5 sets win record-breaking 18th major @ 2017 australian open, mcenroe remarked federer had cemented status being best tennis player of time, left open possibility nadal can in running again should win additional men s singles majors narrow gap.

in october 2013, rod laver, tennis player achieve grand slam twice, said when @ federer, s accomplished, against competition s accomplished with, d have think roger greatest player,

at press conference following 9th record french open win in 2014 , total of 14 slams, 3 shy of federer s 17, nadal said not care records, ll follow own path. then, when career over, ll count.

in may 2014, eight-time grand slam champion andre agassi told singapore s straits times newspaper, via aljazeera.com: d put nadal number 1 , federer number two. federer separated himself field 4 years. separated himself andy roddick , lleyton hewitt. nadal had deal federer, novak djokovic, andy murray in golden age of tennis.

in november 2014, former world number 1 player andy roddick, in noting support federer, explained why believes head-to-head results not valid factor in determining greatest of time, me roger federer still ahead in greatest-ever debate, rafael nadal second. people talk head-to-head being determining factor, can’t comprehend single match-up being deciding factor. s total wins @ major tournaments, not individual match-up, in mind.

in december 2014, rafael nadal s uncle , coach, toni nadal, indicated spanish radio station cadena cope believed federer greatest of time based on overall statistics , achievements, noting think (the best of all-time), numbers so. day before 2017 australian open men s singles finals, toni nadal further reemphasized regard on federer, saying when [federer] call career, greatest player in tennis history won t there anymore. looking @ titles, greatest @ moment.

in march 2015, former player pete sampras made similar arguments federer, @ numbers of s been able do, have s greatest we’ve seen these comments echoed boris becker in july 2015, great respect roger federer! our greatest of time