At 35 years old, Roger Federer is once again the dominant player on the ATP World Tour.
That was certainly the case in the Miami Open final on Sunday afternoon.
Federer improved to 19-1 this season and captured his third title by cruising past Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 34 minutes. The Swiss triumphed at the Australian Open, Indian Wells Masters, and Miami Masters in a single year for just the second time in his career, having previously accomplished the feat in 2006. He defeated Nadal at each of those three tournaments; first in the Aussie Open final and then in the Indian Wells fourth round.
On the heels of a five-set thriller Down Under, Federer had no issues of any kind getting the best of Nadal in the California desert and in south Florida. This latest installment of the rivalry–the 37th between the two all-time greats–was not quite as comprehensive as the 6-2, 6-3 beatdown issued by Federer last month, but it was nothing short of routine at the same time. The 18-time major champion held all 10 of his service games, saving four break points in the opening set before dropping a mere four total points during five second-set service games.
Federer and Nadal combined for seven break-point chances in a hard-to-believe five of the match’s first seven games. Only holds by Nadal at 0-1 and Federer at 1-1 went without a break point. Neither competitor could convert any opportunity, however, on the way to a 4-3 advantage for the world No. 6. That is when Nadal finally cracked, and a break of serve in Federer’s favor allowed him to serve out the opener at 5-3–which he did with no trouble whatsoever.
Despite featuring a slightly more competitive 6-4 scoreline, set two was far more lopsided. Federer coasted through each of his service games, whereas Nadal had to fight off two break points at 3-3 before donating a decisive break of serve at 4-4. The now three-time Miami champion fell behind 0-15 while serving for the title, but he took four the next five points to clinch victory.
Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhKFqsPKq6I
“He’s playing [well],” Nadal said of Federer. “That’s all. He’s playing [well] and with high confidence. When a top player like him is playing with this high confidence and playing that good, then it’s tough to win.
“Today was a close match in my opinion. Was 6-3, 6-4, but I had opportunities to have the break before him in the first set. I don’t believe in luck, but I was not very lucky in the first set on a couple of points that I think I played well and I lost in the break points. Then he has the break and you are in trouble. (A) few things decided the match, and today (it) was for him. For me was a much closer result–much closer level today than what the result says, and completely different than [in Indian Wells].”
“I think it was a close match,” Federer agreed. “Maybe if you didn’t see the match and you were sitting somewhere around the world and you see the score you’re like, ‘Okay, sort of maybe just straightforward and couple breaks and that was it.’ That’s not the full story. I thought he had his chances in the first and in the second. It was close. I think on the big points today I was just a little bit better. Why, I have no explanation. I just think it fell that way today.
“Great atmosphere again–a lot riding on the match, of course. So it was a special match and it was great to play against Rafa again.”
Federer is still 14-23 lifetime against Nadal, but he now leads the head-to-head series on hard courts 10-9. The next showdown is not expected to come until at least the French Open. Federer said during his press conference that he plans to skip the entire clay-court swing before playing the French Open. He plans to continue training on hard courts until two weeks before Roland Garros begins.
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