Federer–Nadal rivalry
They are the only pair of men to have finished six consecutive calendar years as the top two ranked players on the ATP Tour, which they did from 2005 to 2010 and seven times overall, including 2017.
[a] Their 2017 Australian Open final was one of the most highly anticipated matches in tennis history, in part due to the relevance within popular discussions on their placement in greatest-of-all-time listings, coupled with the fact that they were both already in their 30s.
Nadal defeated Federer in Monte Carlo for the third straight year, capturing his Open-Era-record fourth consecutive title there.
[4] A few weeks later Nadal avenged his only clay-court loss to Federer by defeating him in three sets for his first Hamburg Masters title.
[28][29][30] Amidst rain delays, they played what was then the longest final in Wimbledon history (4 hours and 48 minutes), and Nadal captured the title, winning a fifth set that finished in near darkness.
[33][32][34] On clay, Federer rebounded against Nadal at the Madrid Masters, their first match in Spain, defeating him in the final in straight sets.
This time, in a rematch of last year's Madrid Open Final, Nadal defeated Federer in straight sets.
In their first singles match that year, which took place during the early hard-court season, the two met in the semifinals of the Miami Masters, where Nadal won in straight sets.
Although it was a competitive match, Nadal again defeated Federer in four sets to win his tenth Grand Slam title and sixth French Open crown.
They next met in the semifinal at Indian Wells, where Federer won the match in straight sets en route to claiming his fourth title at that tournament.
This marked the first time since 10 November 2003 that neither Federer nor Nadal was ranked in the ATP top 2 (Novak Djokovic had taken the number 1 spot in 2011),[42] a span of an unprecedented 490 weeks.
They would have met in the semifinal of the Indian Wells Masters, but Nadal withdrew from the match due to a right hip injury, giving Federer a walkover victory to the final.
Federer 16 – Nadal 24 Federer—Nadal (1–2) As a pair (1–1) Federer—Nadal (3–7) On 21 November 2006 they played an exhibition match on a hard court in Seoul, South Korea.
[50] On 21 December 2010 they played in Zürich, Switzerland on a hard court a charity tennis match for the Roger Federer Foundation.
On 1 January 2011 they played in the final of the knockout exhibition tournament; the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on a hard court.
On 12 December 2015 they played two matches in New Delhi, India at 2015 International Premier Tennis League season on a hard court.
Federer would complete a Career Grand Slam by winning the French title in 2009 after Nadal was upset in the fourth round.
Nadal completed his Double Career Grand Slam in 2022 when he won the Australian Open for the second time, in this occasion against Daniil Medvedev.
Their record six consecutive calendar years atop the rankings from 2005 to 2010 was due to their unprecedented combined performance in the Grand Slam and Masters Series tournaments.
[57] The 2006 Rome final was won by Nadal in a fifth-set tiebreak, lasted for over five hours and is considered by some to be one of the greatest and most memorable matches ever contested on clay.
As of 2023, Roger Federer holds the record for ATP year-end championship titles with six (joint with Novak Djokovic).
Federer has defeated Nadal in four out of five encounters they have had at the Year End Championships, including the 2010 final, which are played on indoor hardcourts.
Statistically, Nadal has the highest win percentage on clay of any player in ATP history, and is second only to Anthony Wilding all-time.
[77] In January 2017, after Federer, then 35 years of age and returning to competitive play after a 6-month layoff due to injury, triumphed over Nadal in 5 sets to win the record-breaking 18th major at the 2017 Australian Open, McEnroe remarked that Federer had cemented his status as being the best tennis player of all time, but also left open the possibility that Nadal can be in the running again should he win additional men's singles majors to narrow the gap.
[86] Nadal criticized Federer before the 2012 Australian Open for his failure to be more vocal about players' grievances on issues such as scheduling and prize money.
He subsequently apologized for making his views public, however, and both players maintained that they still enjoyed a good relationship and had high respect for each other,[87] which can often be seen in interviews.
[95] The pair's rivalry – and indeed mutual respect and friendship – was the subject of the 2009 book Strokes of Genius[96] by L. Jon Wertheim, which explored their career progression and early lives through the prism of the 2008 Wimbledon final.
The book consequently inspired a 2018 film of the same name directed by Andrew Douglas, which updated the story to include their comebacks and recent domination of the slams.
The documentary includes footage of a 12-year-old Nadal and a number of clips of Federer losing his temper, who admits in the film that he had to change his behaviour in order to progress his career.
The documentary also features contributions from former players such as John McEnroe, Björn Borg, Pete Sampras, Tim Henman and Carlos Moyá – Nadal's current coach – and family members including Federer's mother and father.
