Federer–Nadal rivalry

2004: Miami

Federer and Nadal played their first match in March 2004 at the third round of the Miami Masters.^[34] Nadal, only 17 years old and ranked No. 34 at the time,^[35] surprised many by beating the then No. 1 in straight sets.

2005: Miami, French Open

Their second meeting was one year later, again in Miami, but this time in a best-of-five-set final. Federer recovered from a two-set deficit to win in five sets.^[36]

They played again two months later in the semifinals of the French Open, which was their first match on clay. Nadal defeated Federer in four sets en route to his first Grand Slam title.

2006: Dubai, Monte Carlo, Rome, French Open, Wimbledon, Masters Cup

Nadal serves to Federer during the 2006 Wimbledon final.

Federer celebrates his eighth Grand Slam title after a win over Nadal.

In 2006, Nadal and Federer faced each other in six matches.

Nadal won the first four, beginning with the Dubai final in February played on hard court. This was Federer's first loss of the year and ended his Open era record of 56 consecutive wins on hard courts.^[37]

The clay season ensued, and Nadal continued his dominance on clay, defeating Federer in the finals of the Monte Carlo Masters, the Rome Masters, and the French Open,^[38] in what was their first Grand Slam final. Federer won the first set quickly, but Nadal fought back and took the next three sets to capture his second French Open title.^[20] In the Rome final, Federer held two championship points on Nadal's serve at 5–6 in the fifth set, but failed to convert. Federer then led 5–3 in the fifth-set tiebreaker, but Nadal won the next four points to claim the title. At five hours and five minutes, this is the longest match Federer and Nadal have ever contested.

They faced off again a month later in the final of Wimbledon, which was their first meeting on grass. Federer won in four sets to capture his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title with two sets going to tiebreakers.^[39][40]

They did not meet again until the semifinals of the year-end Masters Cup. Federer won in straight sets, en route to his third Masters Cup title in four years. At year's end, Nadal's career head-to-head advantage had risen to 6–3.

2007: Monte Carlo, Hamburg, French Open, Wimbledon, Masters Cup

Federer in the finals of Monte Carlo 2007

Nadal and Federer faced each other five times in 2007, and Federer won three of their matches.

For the second straight year, Federer and Nadal played in three finals on clay. Nadal won the first meeting in straight sets, winning his third consecutive Monte Carlo title. A few weeks later they met at the Hamburg Masters, where Federer defeated Nadal for the first time on clay, ending Nadal's 81-match winning streak on clay.

Nadal in the finals of Monte Carlo 2007.

Their next encounter was the French Open final, and Nadal won their much-anticipated rematch in four sets, capturing his third consecutive French Open title.^[20]

Their last two meetings in 2007 were also a repeat of 2006: the finals of Wimbledon and the semifinals of the Masters Cup. Once again, Federer won both matches, though their Wimbledon final lasted five sets, instead of the previous year's four sets.^[41]. Also, their Masters Cup match was the shortest match of their rivalry, lasting less than an hour.

By the end of the year Federer narrowed the head-to-head record to 6–8.

2008: Monte Carlo, Hamburg, French Open, Wimbledon

Federer and Nadal played four times in 2008, and Nadal won all four times, extending his career advantage to 12–6. For the third straight year, Federer and Nadal played in three clay-court finals. Nadal beat Federer in the Monte Carlo Masters for the third straight year, capturing his Open-Era-record fourth consecutive title there.^[20] 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. Federer had double-break leads in the first sets of both Monte Carlo and Hamburg, but could not close out the sets.

Federer and Nadal during the 2008 Wimbledon final

Also for the third straight year, they played in the final of the French Open. Nadal won his fourth consecutive French Open title, by a score of 6–1, 6–3, 6–0. The scoreline puts the match among the most one-sided in Grand Slam finals history.^[20][42]

Nadal and Federer also met in the final of Wimbledon for the third straight year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry.^{[43][44][44][45]} Amidst rain delays, they played 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.^{[21][22][23][24]} This match broke Federer's Open-Era-record 65-match winning streak on grass, which spanned more than five years.^[46]

2009: Australian Open, Madrid

Federer in the finals of Australian Open 2009.

Federer and Nadal played each other only twice in 2009, splitting their matches.

Both players began the year strong, reaching the final of the Australian Open. This was the first hard-court Grand Slam final for Nadal, but Federer was undefeated in eight hard-court finals (five US Open, three Australian).^[47] The final was long (4 hours and 23 minutes) and competitive in the first four sets, with Nadal pulling away decisively in the fifth set to secure his first hard-court championship.^[48][47][49]

Nadal in the finals of Australian Open 2009

Federer rebounded against Nadal at the Madrid Masters (their first match on Spanish soil), defeating him in the final in straight sets.^[50] This was a pivotal match because it broke Nadal's five-match winning streak against Federer. The victory by Federer also ended Nadal's 33-match winning streak on clay and foreshadowed the Swiss' historic victory at the French Open, which completed his Career Grand Slam.

2010: Madrid, World Tour Finals

In 2010, Federer and Nadal played twice, with Nadal winning the first and Federer winning the second match.

The two met in the final of the Madrid Open, one year after their last match, and Nadal defeated Federer in straight sets.

Federer and Nadal met in the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals' final, marking their third meeting at the year-end championships and their first ever meeting in the finals. Federer continued his indoor dominance against Nadal, winning in three sets. This victory gave Federer a record-tying fifth title at the year-end tournament.

Federer and Nadal met in the finals of the Year-End Championships for the first time in 2010.

2011: Miami, Madrid, French Open, World Tour Finals

Federer and Nadal played four singles matches, with Nadal winning the first three matches and Federer winning the last match. Their lone doubles match was at the BNP Paribas Open. Federer, partnering with Stanislas Wawrinka, defeated Nadal and Marc López in the semifinals.

In their first singles match of 2011, the two met in the semifinals of the Miami Masters, where Nadal won in straight sets.^[51]

They met in the semifinals at the Mutua Madrid Open, and Nadal won in three sets.^[52]

They then met in the final of the 2011 French Open, their first Grand Slam tournament meeting since the 2009 Australian Open final. 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. This denied Federer an opportunity to become the first man in the open era to have won all four Grand Slam tournaments twice.^[53] This would be their last meeting at a Grand Slam final until the 2017 Australian Open final.

Their final meeting of the year came in the round-robin stage of the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals. Their match, a rematch of the previous year's final, saw Federer win a lopsided match in straight sets.^[54]

2012: Australian Open, Indian Wells

Federer defeated Nadal in a memorable first meeting at Indian Wells that included a rain delay on match point.

Federer and Nadal first met during 2012 in the semifinals of the 2012 Australian Open. Federer was leading by a set and a break before a 20-minute fireworks delay due to the celebrations of Australia Day. After the delay, Nadal came back to win in four sets, improving his hard-court record over Federer.

They next met in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters, where Federer won the match in straight sets en route to claiming his fourth Indian Wells Masters title.

2013: Indian Wells, Rome, Cincinnati, World Tour Finals

Federer and Nadal met four times in 2013 with Nadal prevailing on every occasion.

Federer and Nadal met for the first time during the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters. It was the earliest the pair had met in a tournament since 2004, with Nadal winning in straight sets.^[55][56]

On 1 April, by winning the Miami Masters, Andy Murray passed Federer in the ATP Rankings for second place. This marked the first time since 10 November 2003 that neither Federer nor Nadal was ranked in the ATP top 2,^[57] a span of an unprecedented 490 weeks.

Nadal then defeated Federer in the 2013 Rome Masters final in two sets.^[58]

They finally played in the quarterfinals at the 2013 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where Nadal unseated the five-time champion in the quarterfinals in three sets. Federer had just switched back to his old racquet after experimenting with a larger frame in his previous two tournaments.^[59]

Nadal and Federer met in semifinals of the indoor event, 2013 ATP World Tour Finals in the O2 arena. Nadal beat Federer in straight sets. This was Nadal's first win over Federer on indoor hard courts. This would also be Federer's last career match played with his 90-inch racquet before upgrading to a larger frame.

2014: Australian Open

Federer and Nadal had their only meeting of the 2014 season in the semifinals of the Australian Open. Nadal won in straight sets and improved his record to 3–0 against Federer at the Australian Open (9–2 overall in majors). This was the first Grand Slam tournament that Federer played after switching to a new larger racquet.

2015: Basel

In November 2015, Federer defeated Nadal in three sets in the final of the Swiss Indoors. This was their first encounter on Swiss soil, as Federer captured a seventh title in his hometown of Basel. It was Federer's first victory over Nadal in over 3 and a half years, having lost the previous five meetings.

2017: Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami, Shanghai

Federer defeated Nadal to capture a record 18th Grand Slam title.

Federer and Nadal played four times in 2017, with Federer prevailing on all four occasions. This marked the first time in their rivalry that Federer confronted and went undefeated against Nadal multiple times in a single tennis season.

The rivalry was renewed in the 2017 Australian Open final, their first meeting in a Grand Slam final since 2011. Federer, returning from a six-month layoff from knee injury that saw him miss out most of the 2016 season, came into the tournament seeded 17th, and Nadal seeded 9th. Prior to the match, Nadal had won every match between the two in a Grand Slam tournament since the Wimbledon final in 2007, three of which were in the Australian Open. Federer came back from a break down in the fifth set to take the match, becoming the first man in history to win 18 Grand Slam singles titles and the first man to win at least five titles in three different Grand Slam tournaments each, and denying Nadal's third effort to win the Australian Open title again and also his second opportunity to become the first man in the Open Era to win each Grand Slam tournament in men's singles at least twice. Federer's victory over Nadal in the Australian Open 2017 final also marked his first win over Nadal in a Grand Slam singles match outside the grass courts of Wimbledon.

They met again at Indian Wells in the round of 16, only their second-ever meeting before the quarterfinal stage in any tournament. Federer prevailed in straight sets; it was the first time he had won three matches in a row against Nadal.

Their 37th meeting came in the Miami final. This was their first meeting in a final on American soil since the 2005 Miami final, and Federer won in straight sets, his 4th consecutive win over Nadal.

In the 2017 Laver Cup Nadal and Federer played doubles together for the first time, against Sam Querrey/Jack Sock, and won in a match tiebreak.^[60]

Federer and Nadal met at the Shanghai Masters for the first time, contesting the final. Federer won in straight sets, claiming a fifth consecutive win over Nadal. This was the first time they had contested a match as the top two ranked players in the world since the 2010 ATP Finals.

Federer's newfound success against Nadal has been ascribed to the improvement in the backhand, which he has been hitting harder and more easily returning Nadal's high bouncing forehand with the larger racquet.^[61]

Singles

Federer–Nadal (15–23)

No.	Year	Tournament	Series	Surface	Round	Winner	Score	Length	Sets	Federer	Nadal
1.	2004	Miami Open	Masters	Hard	Round of 32	Nadal	6–3, 6–3	1:10	2/3	0	1
2.	2005	Miami Open	Masters	Hard	Final	Federer	2–6, 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–3, 6–1	3:43	5/5	1	1
3.	2005	Roland Garros	Major	Clay	Semifinals	Nadal	6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3	2:47	4/5	1	2
4.	2006	Dubai Championships	500	Hard	Final	Nadal	2–6, 6–4, 6–4	1:53	3/3	1	3
5.	2006	Monte-Carlo Masters	Masters	Clay	Final	Nadal	6–2, 6–7(2–7), 6–3, 7–6(7–5)	3:50	4/5	1	4
6.	2006	Italian Open	Masters	Clay	Final	Nadal	6–7(0–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5)	5:05	5/5	1	5
7.	2006	Roland Garros	Major	Clay	Final	Nadal	1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)	3:02	4/5	1	6
8.	2006	Wimbledon	Major	Grass	Final	Federer	6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3	2:58	4/5	2	6
9.	2006	Tennis Masters Cup	Tour Finals	Hard (i)	Semifinals	Federer	6–4, 7–5	1:53	2/3	3	6
10.	2007	Monte-Carlo Masters	Masters	Clay	Final	Nadal	6–4, 6–4	1:35	2/3	3	7
11.	2007	Hamburg Masters	Masters	Clay	Final	Federer	2–6, 6–2, 6–0	1:55	3/3	4	7
12.	2007	Roland Garros	Major	Clay	Final	Nadal	6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4	3:10	4/5	4	8
13.	2007	Wimbledon	Major	Grass	Final	Federer	7–6(9–7), 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 2–6, 6–2	3:45	5/5	5	8
14.	2007	Tennis Masters Cup	Tour Finals	Hard (i)	Semifinals	Federer	6–4, 6–1	0:59	2/3	6	8
15.	2008	Monte-Carlo Masters	Masters	Clay	Final	Nadal	7–5, 7–5	1:43	2/3	6	9
16.	2008	Hamburg Masters	Masters	Clay	Final	Nadal	7–5, 6–7(3–7), 6–3	2:52	3/3	6	10
17.	2008	Roland Garros	Major	Clay	Final	Nadal	6–1, 6–3, 6–0	1:48	3/5	6	11
18.	2008	Wimbledon	Major	Grass	Final	Nadal	6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7	4:48	5/5	6	12
19.	2009	Australian Open	Major	Hard	Final	Nadal	7–5, 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 3–6, 6–2	4:23	5/5	6	13
20.	2009	Madrid Open	Masters	Clay	Final	Federer	6–4, 6–4	1:26	2/3	7	13
21.	2010	Madrid Open	Masters	Clay	Final	Nadal	6–4, 7–6(7–5)	2:10	2/3	7	14
22.	2010	ATP World Tour Finals	Tour Finals	Hard (i)	Final	Federer	6–3, 3–6, 6–1	1:37	3/3	8	14
23.	2011	Miami Open	Masters	Hard	Semifinals	Nadal	6–3, 6–2	1:18	2/3	8	15
24.	2011	Madrid Open	Masters	Clay	Semifinals	Nadal	5–7, 6–1, 6–3	2:36	3/3	8	16
25.	2011	Roland Garros	Major	Clay	Final	Nadal	7–5, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–1	3:40	4/5	8	17
26.	2011	ATP World Tour Finals	Tour Finals	Hard (i)	Round Robin	Federer	6–3, 6–0	1:00	2/3	9	17
27.	2012	Australian Open	Major	Hard	Semifinals	Nadal	6–7(5–7), 6–2, 7–6(7–5), 6–4	3:42	4/5	9	18
28.	2012	Indian Wells Masters	Masters	Hard	Semifinals	Federer	6–3, 6–4	1:31	2/3	10	18
29.	2013	Indian Wells Masters	Masters	Hard	Quarterfinals	Nadal	6–4, 6–2	1:24	2/3	10	19
30.	2013	Italian Open	Masters	Clay	Final	Nadal	6–1, 6–3	1:08	2/3	10	20
31.	2013	Cincinnati Masters	Masters	Hard	Quarterfinals	Nadal	5–7, 6–4, 6–3	2:14	3/3	10	21
32.	2013	ATP World Tour Finals	Tour Finals	Hard (i)	Semifinals	Nadal	7–5, 6–3	1:19	2/3	10	22
33.	2014	Australian Open	Major	Hard	Semifinals	Nadal	7–6(7–4), 6–3, 6–3	2:24	3/5	10	23
34.	2015	Swiss Indoors	500	Hard (i)	Final	Federer	6–3, 5–7, 6–3	2:03	3/3	11	23
35.	2017	Australian Open	Major	Hard	Final	Federer	6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–3	3:37	5/5	12	23
36.	2017	Indian Wells Masters	Masters	Hard	Round of 16	Federer	6–2, 6–3	1:08	2/3	13	23
37.	2017	Miami Open	Masters	Hard	Final	Federer	6–3, 6–4	1:34	2/3	14	23
38.	2017	Shanghai Masters	Masters	Hard	Final	Federer	6–4, 6–3	1:12	2/3	15	23

Doubles

Federer—Nadal (1–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Round	Winner	Score	Opponents	Federer	Nadal
1.	2004	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Round of 32	Nadal/Robredo	5–7, 6–4, 6–3	Federer/Allegro	0	1
2.	2007	Italian Open	Clay	Round of 32	Nadal/Moyá	6–4, 7–6(7–5)	Federer/Wawrinka	0	2
3.	2011	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Semifinals	Federer/Wawrinka	7–5, 6–3	Nadal/M. López	1	2

As a pair (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Round	Winner	Score	Opponents	Wins	Losses
1.	2017	Laver Cup	Hard (i)	Day 2	Federer/Nadal	6–4, 1–6, [10–5]	Querrey/Sock	1	0

Exhibitions

Federer—Nadal (2–7)

On 21 November 2006 they played an exhibition match on a hard court in Seoul, South Korea. Federer won 6–3, 3–6, 6–3.^[62]

On 2 May 2007 they played in the "Battle of Surfaces" on a hybrid court that was half clay and half grass. This match was held at the Palma Arena in Palma, the capital city of Nadal's native Mallorca. Nadal won 7–5, 4–6, 7–6^(12–10).^[63]

On 21 December 2010 they played in Zürich, Switzerland on a hard court a charity tennis match for the Roger Federer Foundation. Federer won 4–6, 6–3, 6–3. They played another exhibition match on 22 December 2010 in Madrid, Spain. Nadal won 7–6^(7–3), 4–6, 6–1. This was a charity tennis match for the Fundación Rafa Nadal (Rafael Nadal Foundation).

On 1 January 2011 they played in the final of the knockout exhibition tournament; the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on a hard court. Federer had beaten Söderling in the previous round and Nadal had beaten Berdych in the previous round. Nadal won the encounter by a score of 7–6^(7–4), 7–6^(7–3).

On 8 March 2011 the two played a set at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Nadal won the charity exhibition 7–5.

On 31 December 2011 they played again at Mubadala 2011 Mubadala World Tennis Championship (December) on a hard court, this time for third place. Nadal won again 6–1, 7–5.

On 12 December 2015 they played two matches in New Delhi, India at 2015 International Premier Tennis League season on a hard court. Nadal won both a set of singles against Federer 6–5^(7–4) and, paired with Rohan Bopanna, a doubles set against Roger Federer and Marin Cilic 6–4 to lead the Indian Aces to a 30–19 victory over the UAE Royals.

Significant aspects

The rivalry between Federer and Nadal has been a huge part of both men's careers. Their Grand Slam tournament histories are of particular interest, especially their all-time record of nine finals encounters.^[20] This includes playing French Open and Wimbledon finals for three consecutive years (2006–08), culminating in what many consider the greatest match in tennis history at Wimbledon 2008.^{[21][22][23][24]} Nadal, who had to defeat Federer during each of his first six Grand Slam title runs, possesses a 6–3 advantage in their finals encounters plus three victories in semifinals.

Nadal denied Federer a Career Grand Slam plus two potential Calendar Year Grand Slams (2006–07) by defeating him at the French Open every year from 2005–08. Federer would complete a Career Grand Slam by winning the French title in 2009 after Nadal was upset in the fourth round. Meanwhile, Federer twice denied Nadal from becoming the first man since Björn Borg in 1980 to win the "Channel Slam" (both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year) by defeating him in their first two Wimbledon finals, but Nadal succeeded the following year. This was the first of three combined Channel Slams with Federer accomplishing it in 2009 followed by Nadal's second in 2010. Federer has also prevented Nadal from winning the Year-End Championships by defeating him in the 2010 finals and eliminating Nadal from the tournament in the 2006 and 2007 semifinals preventing Nadal from becoming only the second man after Andre Agassi to win a Career Grand Slam, a gold singles Olympic medal, and the Year End Championships, a distinction dubbed as a "Career Super Slam" by Sports Illustrated. In their latest grand slam match in the 2017 Australian Open final, Federer won a record-breaking 18th singles major while denying Nadal's second opportunity (the 2014 Australian Open final was the first) to become the first man in the Open Era to have won each of the Grand Slam tournaments twice in men's singles.

Their record six consecutive calendar years atop the rankings from 2005–10 was due to their unprecedented combined performance in the Grand Slam and Masters Series tournaments. During this span, they captured a combined record 21 of the 24 Grand Slam tournament titles (12 for Federer, 9 for Nadal), including a record 11 consecutive titles from 2005–07. They also dominated the Masters Series, combining for 31 of the 54 titles (18 for Nadal, 13 for Federer), including 8 of 9 in 2005 (4 each). Additionally, Federer won 4 of 6 year-end tournaments.

Finally, both men not only possess Open-Era records for consecutive wins on a single surface—Federer on both grass (65) and hard courts (56), Nadal on clay courts (81)—but each of these streaks was broken by the other player. Their respective dominance on grass and clay was the impetus for the "Battle of Surfaces", an exhibition match on a half-grass, half-clay court, which Nadal won with a 12–10 in the deciding tiebreak in May 2007 when both the grass and clay streaks were still active.^[64]

Of their 38 matches, 20 have been on hard court, 15 have been on clay, and 3 have been on grass. Federer has a winning record on his best surface, grass (2–1), and on hard court (11–9) while Nadal leads on his best surface, clay (13–2).^[65] Nadal leads in Grand Slam tournament matches (9–3), with five of these wins coming on the clay courts at the French Open.

Analysts, commentators and pundits increasingly recognize that Nadal is a bad matchup for Federer, as the heavy topspin created by Nadal's groundstrokes combined with his strategy of directing the majority of his serves and groundstrokes to Federer's single-handed backhand keeps Federer on the defensive and makes it harder for Federer to use his aggressive groundstrokes to dominate baseline rallies as he typically does against other opponents.^[66] Federer says he is a "different player due to Nadal's presence" citing Nadal's game as a major reason for improvements in areas of his own game.^[67]

There are several factors to consider in analyzing the head-to-head tally between Nadal and Federer. Nadal's head-to-head advantage is built on his ability to dominate on clay whilst remaining competitive on the other two surfaces. Nadal leads by a 13–2 margin on clay, which is statistically his strongest surface and Federer's weakest, while the record on the other two surfaces combined currently stands at 13–10 in Federer's favour.

From 2004 to 2007, the rivalry stood at 8–6 in Nadal's favour, though Federer led on both grass (2–0) and hardcourt (3–2), as most of their matches were played on clay, where Nadal led 6–1. However, from 2008 to 2014 Australian Open, with Federer seeing a considerable decline in form in 2008 having passed his most dominant years, Nadal compiled a lopsided 15–4 record, leading on each surface, grass (1–0), hard (7–3) and clay (7–1). Since then, after they played only one match in the next three years, Federer has dominated the rivalry with a 5–0 record. Federer has stated that early defeats to Nadal on clay courts had a long lasting mental effect on him in his matches against Nadal on other surfaces, and that the lopsided loss at 2008 French open affected him in his first two sets at 2008 Wimbledon final.^[68] After his win over Nadal at 2017 Shanghai masters final, Federer credited his 2017 success on Nadal to bigger racquet frame and avoiding claycourt meetings against him since 2013.^[69]

There is debate as to how much of a role sickness and injury have played in the rivalry. Federer contracted mononucleosis in late December 2007 which lasted, according to his doctors, for at least six weeks.^[70][71] Some believe that the after-effects of the illness were with him throughout the year^[72][73] though there is some evidence that he was over the illness by March, a month before the first of their matches.^[74][75][71] Nevertheless, as Chris Bowers wrote in his biography of Federer, Federer "may well have had a very mild dose, but, looking back on Federer's 2008, the fact that he played through it means it is medically quite plausible that it robbed him of strength for the first half of the year".^[73] Federer also suffered from a back injury in 2013.^{[76][77][78][79]} During these years when Federer had mononucleosis (2008) and the significant year-long back injury (2013), he went 0–8 against Nadal which significantly skewed their head to head record.

Another aspect that has shaped their rivalry has been that of racquet equipment. Nadal has always used a large 100 square inch racquet, however, Federer used a significantly smaller 90 inch racquet in their matches from 2004–2013. This was the size Federer had always played with since a youth, but in an age of increasing power tennis this substantially smaller racquet put him at a disadvantage. During the period in which Nadal enjoyed this advantage in racquet equipment he compiled a 22–10 record. In early 2014 Federer began experimenting with a larger frame and played Nadal in just his second tournament using this larger prototype.^[80] Nadal won this match and took his advantage to 23–10. However, since Federer committed to his new 97.5 inch Wilson Prostaff he has flipped their rivalry upside down going an undefeated 5–0 in their matches with equally modern racquet equipment.^[81] Many analysts have claimed that Federer's switch to a modern sized racquet and his subsequent dominance, in addition to the vast improvements it has made to his single handed backhand, have proven that he was playing with a handicap for most of their rivalry.^[82][83][84]

Comparison of Grand Slam tournament titles

As of September 2018 Roger Federer holds the all-time record for the most Grand Slam tournament titles with 20. Federer's Grand Slam tournament titles include 11 on hard courts, 8 on grass, and 1 on clay. Nadal is second on the all-time list for the most Grand Slam titles with 17 in total: 11 on clay, 4 on hard courts, and 2 on grass.

Both players have won the Career Grand Slam (winning all four majors at least once).

Tournament	Federer	Nadal
Australian Open	6	1
French Open	1	11
Wimbledon	8	2
US Open	5	3
Total Count	20	17

• Bold indicates outright record holder

Comparison of Masters 1000 titles

Rafael Nadal holds a record 33 Masters 1000 titles, with 24 of his titles on clay and 9 on hard courts. Roger Federer has 27, with 21 coming on hardcourts and 6 on clay. Federer is missing two Masters 1000 titles, both of which are played on clay (Monte Carlo and Rome) while Nadal is missing two Masters 1000 titles (Miami and Paris), both of which are played on hard courts, having won the German Open Hamburg before it was downgraded to ATP 500 in 2009 and replaced by the Madrid Masters (clay). Nadal also won the Madrid Masters event in 2005 when it was played on indoor hardcourts in October, the same slot that Shanghai Masters has today.

Nadal prevented Federer from winning Monte Carlo three times from 2006 to 2008. He also beat Federer twice in the Rome finals, in 2006 and 2013.^[85] The 2006 Rome final, which 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.^[86][87]

In 2005, Federer prevented Nadal from winning Miami in a five-set final. Nadal won the first and second sets, was up a break in the third set, and was two points away from victory before Federer came back from two-sets-down to win.^[88] Nadal made it back to the Miami final in 2008,^[89] 2011,^[90] 2014^[91] and 2017 but lost each time.^[91] In 2017, Federer again beat Nadal in the Miami final. He also prevented Nadal from winning in Shanghai, defeating the Spaniard in the final.

  Hardcourt   Clay

• Bold indicates outright record holder

Comparison of Year-End Championships

As of 2016, Roger Federer holds the record for Year-End Championship titles with six. While Nadal has not won a Year-End Championship, he has made the finals twice, in 2010 and 2013. Federer defeated Nadal in the 2010 finals and leads their head-to-head for the event 4–1.

Head-to-head tallies

The following is a breakdown of their 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

* The Shanghai Masters 2017 final between Federer and Nadal was played with the roof closed due to rain, but the ATP officially counts it as an outdoor match.

• All finals: Nadal, 14–10
  • Clay courts: Nadal, 11–2
  • Grass courts: Federer, 2–1
  • Hard courts: Federer, 6–2
    • Outdoor: Federer, 4–2
    • Indoor: Federer, 2–0
• 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 five set matches: Nadal, 11–4
  • Five-set matches: Tied, 3–3
• Best of three set matches: Nadal, 12–11

Skill comparisons

Federer is considered by many to be the greatest tennis player of all time^{[99][100][101]} while Nadal's performance on clay has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player and one of the best tennis players of all time.^{[102][103][104]}

Federer has been more successful than Nadal on fast courts because he hits a flatter forehand and has a faster serve. Grass and indoor hard courts are faster surfaces, so Federer's flatter shots there result in a lower bouncing, faster moving trajectory. Thus, Nadal's topspin is less effective on such faster courts, but is most effective on slower courts such as clay. Nadal has improved his serving speed and placement over the years, but Federer still serves faster on average and earns more aces and service winners, while Nadal has an overall stronger ground stroke game.^{[105][106][107]}

While Nadal is statistically weaker than Federer on both hard and grass courts, he has nonetheless achieved considerable success on both surfaces, including notable wins at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Wimbledon (2008 and 2010), the Australian Open (2009), the US Open (2010, 2013 and 2017), and at various hard court Masters series tournaments.

Similarly, Federer too has achieved considerable success on clay, winning the French Open (2009) and reaching the finals on four other occasions (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011), winning the Madrid/Hamburg open six times (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2012), and winning various other clay court tournaments.

Media and player commentary

During interviews, many fellow and former players have regarded both Federer and Nadal as among the best tennis players of all time.^{[108][109][109]} In November 2010, former player Björn Borg stated that he believed Federer to be the greatest player of all time, but "Rafa has the chance to be the greatest player" if he stays healthy.^[110]

Former player and commentator John McEnroe was of a similar opinion, noting in 2010 that "there is an argument to be made that Rafael Nadal may be the greatest player eventually, even possibly now."^[110] He has subsequently adjusted his opinion on several occasions, in 2013 noting that he thought Nadal was "the greatest player that ever lived" ^[111] but later in 2014 bunched Federer, Nadal, Laver and Sampras together as the greatest ever.^[112] In July 2015, he reversed his opinion and again backed Roger Federer for the title.^[113] 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.

In October 2013, Rod Laver, the only tennis player to achieve the Grand Slam twice, said "When I look at Federer, with what he's accomplished, against the competition that he's accomplished it with, I'd have to say I would think that Roger is the greatest player,''

At the press conference following his 9th record French Open win in 2014 and a total of 14 Slams, three shy of Federer's 17, Nadal said that he really does not care much about records, "I'll follow my own path. Then, when my career is over, then we'll count." ^[114]

In May 2014, eight-time Grand Slam tournament champion Andre Agassi told Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, via aljazeera.com: "I'd put Nadal number one and Federer number two. Federer separated himself from the field for four years. He separated himself from Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt. Nadal had to deal with Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray in the golden age of tennis." ^[115]

In November 2014, former world number 1 player Andy Roddick, in noting his support for Federer, explained why he believes that head-to-head results are not a valid factor in determining the greatest of all time, "For me Roger Federer is still ahead in the greatest-ever debate, with Rafael Nadal second. People talk about their head-to-head being the determining factor, but I can’t comprehend a single match-up being the deciding factor. It's about total wins at major tournaments, not an individual match-up, in my mind."^[116]

In December 2014, Rafael Nadal's uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, indicated to Spanish radio station Cadena COPE that he believed Federer to be the greatest of all time based on overall statistics and achievements, noting "I think he is (the best of all-time), the numbers say so."^[117] A day before the 2017 Australian Open men's singles finals, Toni Nadal further reemphasized his regard on Federer, saying that "When [Federer] will call it a career, the greatest player in the tennis history won't be there anymore. Looking at titles, he is the greatest at the moment."^[118]

In March 2015, former player Pete Sampras made similar arguments about Federer, "You look at the numbers of what he's been able to do, you have to say he's the greatest we’ve seen"^[119] These comments were echoed by Boris Becker in July 2015, "Great respect for Roger Federer! He is our greatest of all time" ^[120]

Cultural impact

The rivalry has also increased overall interest in tennis. The highly anticipated 2008 Wimbledon final drew strong television ratings for tennis in both the U.S. and across Europe.^[22][129] The match was also featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which was the first time in years that tennis had made its cover.^[23][130] The high profile status of the rivalry saw Sky Sports comparing it to another modern day rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.^[131]

The pair's rivalry - and indeed mutual respect and friendship - was the subject of the 2009 book 'Strokes of Genius^[132]' 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 also includes footage of a skinny 12 year old Nadal before the development of his famously muscular physique and a number of clips of a surprisingly bad tempered Federer who admits in the film that he had to change his behaviour in order to progress his career.

The documentary features contributions from former players such as John McEnroe, Björn Borg, Pete Sampras, Tim Henman and Carlos Moya - Nadal's current coach - and family members including Federer's mother and father. An illuminating film, it was well received by audiences, scoring 9.2 on IMDB's user rating database.

Significant achievements

• From the 2003 Wimbledon Championships to the 2011 French Open, Federer and Nadal have won an unprecedented 26 out of 32 Major titles. In this time, both men have also completed the Career Grand Slam (Nadal has also completed the Career Golden Slam by winning the 2008 Beijing Olympics).
• From Nadal's first Grand Slam tournament victory at the 2005 French Open until the 2011 French Open, Federer and Nadal had won 22 of 25 Major titles (12 for Federer, 10 for Nadal). The exceptions were the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, won by Novak Djokovic, and the 2009 US Open, won by Juan Martín del Potro.
• Federer and Nadal are the only No. 1 and No. 2 pair in the open era to contest the French Open and Wimbledon men's finals back to back in a calendar year. They are also the only pair in the history of tennis to contest both of these finals back to back for three consecutive years (2006–08).
• In the history of tennis, Federer and Nadal are the only pair to face each other in nine Grand Slam singles finals (2006–08, 2011 French Open, 2006–08 Wimbledon, 2009, 2017 Australian Open). This broke the previous record of seven finals set by Bill Tilden and William Johnston (1919–25 U.S. Championships). Their match at the 2012 Australian Open also marked a 10th time two players had faced each other in Grand Slam men's singles matches, tying the record set by John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl.^[133] This record has now been surpassed by Federer-Djokovic when they met for the 13th time in a Major at the 2012 Wimbledon semifinals.

• Federer and Nadal are the only No. 1 and No. 2 pair to win 11 consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments between them (from the 2005 French Open to the 2007 US Open). In this period, Federer won 3 consecutive titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open and 2 consecutive titles at the Australian Open, while Nadal won 3 consecutive French Open titles. While both were in their thirties, they won 6 consecutive titles from the Australian Open 2017 to the French Open 2018.
• During the Open Era, only two pairs of players have played each other in the final of the same Grand Slam singles tournament three consecutive years: Becker–Edberg (1988–90 Wimbledon) and Federer-Nadal (2006–08 French Open and 2006–08 Wimbledon).
• Federer and Nadal are the only pair to win at least four consecutive finals at three different Majors during the same period (2005–08 and 2010–14 French Open for Nadal, 2003–07 Wimbledon and 2004–08 US Open for Federer).
• From the 2004 Wimbledon Championships to the 2011 French Open, at least one of them appeared in 25 of 28 Major finals, winning all of them except the 2005 Australian Open, the 2008 Australian Open, the 2011 Australian Open, and the 2009 US Open.
• Federer and Nadal have combined to win 8 consecutive Wimbledon (2003–10) and 10 consecutive French Open (2005–14).
• Federer and Nadal won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open triple for 4 consecutive years (2005–08).
• One of only two pairs to have faced each other in a Major, having both already completed the career Grand Slam. They did this four times. The other pair Roy Emerson and Rod Laver met on two occasions after both completing the career Grand Slam.^[133]
• Federer and Nadal have played four five-set Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon 2007 and 2008, Australian Open 2009 and 2017). This is the largest number of five-set Grand Slam finals contested by any pair of players in the Open Era.

Grand Slam tournaments

• Bold = players met during this tournament

1999–2004

Player	1999				2000				2001				2002				2003				2004
	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA
Roger Federer	Q1	1R	1R	Q2	3R	4R	1R	3R	3R	QF	QF	4R	4R	1R	1R	4R	4R	1R	W	4R	W	3R	W	W
Rafael Nadal																	A	A	3R	2R	3R	A	A	3R

2005–2010

Player	2005				2006				2007				2008				2009				2010
	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA
Roger Federer	SF	SF	W	W	W	F	W	W	W	F	W	W	SF	F	F	W	F	W	W	F	W	QF	QF	SF
Rafael Nadal	4R	W	2R	3R	A	W	F	QF	QF	W	F	4R	SF	W	W	SF	W	4R	A	SF	QF	W	W	W

2011–2016

Player	2011				2012				2013				2014				2015				2016
	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA
Roger Federer	SF	F	QF	SF	SF	SF	W	QF	SF	QF	2R	4R	SF	4R	F	SF	3R	QF	F	F	SF	A	SF	A
Rafael Nadal	QF	W	F	F	F	W	2R	A	A	W	1R	W	F	W	4R	A	QF	QF	2R	3R	1R	3R	A	4R

2017–present

Player	2017				2018
	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA
Roger Federer	W	A	W	QF	W	A	QF	4R
Rafael Nadal	F	W	4R	W	QF	W	SF	SF

By age (end of season)

18–22

Player	18				19				20				21				22
	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA
Roger Federer	Q1	1R	1R	Q2	3R	4R	1R	3R	3R	QF	QF	4R	4R	1R	1R	4R	4R	1R	W	4R
Rafael Nadal	3R	A	A	2R	4R	W	2R	3R	A	W	F	QF	QF	W	F	4R	SF	W	W	SF

23–27

Player	23				24				25				26				27
	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA
Roger Federer	W	3R	W	W	SF	SF	W	W	W	F	W	W	W	F	W	W	SF	F	F	W
Rafael Nadal	W	4R	A	SF	QF	W	W	W	QF	W	F	F	F	W	2R	A	A	W	1R	W

28–32

Player	28				29				30				31				32
	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA
Roger Federer	F	W	W	F	W	QF	QF	SF	SF	F	QF	SF	SF	SF	W	QF	SF	QF	2R	4R
Rafael Nadal	F	W	4R	A	QF	QF	2R	3R	1R	3R	A	4R	F	W	4R	W	QF	W	SF	SF

33–37

Player	33				34				35				36				37
	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA	AUS	FRA	WIM	USA
Roger Federer	SF	4R	F	SF	3R	QF	F	F	SF	A	SF	A	W	A	W	QF	W	A	QF	4R
Rafael Nadal

ATP Rankings

Year-End ranking timeline

Player	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Roger Federer	301	64	29	13	6	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	3	2	6	2	3	16	2
Rafael Nadal				811	200	49	51	2	2	2	1	2	1	2	4	1	3	5	9	1

ATP Year-End ranking timeline by age

Year End Ranking	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36
Roger Federer			301	64	29	13	6	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	3	2	6	2	3	16	2
Rafael Nadal	811	200	49	51	2	2	2	1	2	1	2	4	1	3	5	9	1

Titles by tournaments played comparison

Another way to view their respective careers and evolution is to look at the progression of titles won by the number of tournaments played to win each of their titles at each level of competition including Grand Slam tournaments, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (formerly ATP Masters Series), ATP World Tour Finals (formerly Tennis Masters Cup), Olympic Games, ATP World Tour 500 Series (formerly ATP International Series Gold), and ATP World Tour 250 Series (formerly ATP International Series). For example, Federer won his 14th Grand Slam title at his 40th Grand Slam tournament, while Nadal won his 14th at his 38th Grand Slam tournament.

Federer–Nadal Grand Slam era (2003–present)

Year	Australian Open	French Open	Wimbledon	US Open
2003	Andre Agassi	Juan Carlos Ferrero	Roger Federer	Andy Roddick
2004	Roger Federer	Gastón Gaudio	Roger Federer	Roger Federer
2005	Marat Safin	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer	Roger Federer
2006	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer	Roger Federer
2007	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer	Roger Federer
2008	Novak Djokovic	Rafael Nadal	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer
2009	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer	Roger Federer	Juan Martín del Potro
2010	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal	Rafael Nadal	Rafael Nadal
2011	Novak Djokovic	Rafael Nadal	Novak Djokovic	Novak Djokovic
2012	Novak Djokovic	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer	Andy Murray
2013	Novak Djokovic	Rafael Nadal	Andy Murray	Rafael Nadal
2014	Stan Wawrinka	Rafael Nadal	Novak Djokovic	Marin Čilić
2015	Novak Djokovic	Stan Wawrinka	Novak Djokovic	Novak Djokovic
2016	Novak Djokovic	Novak Djokovic	Andy Murray	Stan Wawrinka
2017	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal
2018	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal	Novak Djokovic	Novak Djokovic

Combined singles performance timeline (best result)

Federer–Nadal ATP world No. 1 era

Updated Monday September 3, 2018.

Player	Start date	End date	Weeks	Total
Roger Federer	February 2, 2004	August 17, 2008	237	237
Rafael Nadal	August 18, 2008	July 5, 2009	46	46
Roger Federer (2)	July 6, 2009	June 6, 2010	48	285
Rafael Nadal (2)	June 7, 2010	July 3, 2011	56	102
Novak Djokovic	July 4, 2011	July 8, 2012	53	53
Roger Federer (3)	July 9, 2012	November 4, 2012	17	302
Novak Djokovic (2)	November 5, 2012	October 6, 2013	48	101
Rafael Nadal (3)	October 7, 2013	July 6, 2014	39	141
Novak Djokovic (3)	July 7, 2014	November 6, 2016	122	223
Andy Murray	November 7, 2016	August 20, 2017	41	41
Rafael Nadal (4)	August 21, 2017	February 18, 2018	26	167
Roger Federer (4)	February 19, 2018	April 1, 2018	6	308
Rafael Nadal (5)	April 2, 2018	May 13, 2018	6	173
Roger Federer (5)	May 14, 2018	May 20, 2018	1	309
Rafael Nadal (6)	May 21, 2018	June 17, 2018	4	177
Roger Federer (6)	June 18, 2018	June 24, 2018	1	310
Rafael Nadal (7)	June 25, 2018	present	11	188