During the heyday of their dominance, a Grand Slam semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would have been thought of as some sort of punishment inflicted by an unfair draw.
But it’s 2019 now, and any reinstallment of arguably the greatest rivalry in tennis history has to be treated as bonus. No matter that it will take place in the semifinals instead of a final. Given the current state of things in the men’s game, a Fedal semifinal feels just about right.
That will be the case when the two veterans square off for the 39th time in their careers at the French Open on Friday. Nadal leads the head-to-head series 23-15, including 13-2 on clay and 5-0 at Roland Garros. But it’s not all bad news for Federer; not even close. The 37-year-old has won five in a row at the Spaniard’s expense dating back to 2015, including in the 2017 Australian Open title match to go along with a trio of victories at Masters 1000s and one in Basel.
Virtual home-court advantage goes to Nadal this time around, even though the crowd will surely throw its support behind Federer. The 11-time French Open champion is an absolutely outrageous 91-2 lifetime at this tournament, losing only to Robin Soderling (2009) and Novak Djokovic (2015) before withdrawing prior to the third round in 2016. He has been up to his usual tricks this fortnight with routine wins over Yannick Hanfmann, Yannick Maden, David Goffin (in four sets), Juan Ignacio Londero, and Kei Nishikori.
Federer has also surrendered only a single set. The third-ranked Swiss’ disposed of Lorenzo Sonego, Oscar Otte, Casper Ruud, and Leonardo Mayer in swift fashion before beating Stan Wawrinka 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 on Tuesday. He is now 9-1 on clay this spring, a record that also includes mostly successful returns to Madrid and Rome.
“I (have already) exceeded my expectations here,” Federer said following his win over Wawrinka. “You know, after missing the French for so many years it’s nice to be back in the semis. So that’s a great feeling…. Now I have the match with Rafa, and I’m clearly excited. I hope I can recover well in the next couple days, which I’m sure I will, and I’ll give it my best shot on Friday.”
“I really expect that he (is) gonna play aggressive, changing rhythms, going to the net,” Nadal noted. “That’s my feeling, that he (is) gonna try to play that way, because he’s playing well and he has the tennis to make that happen. I have to be solid; I have to hit the ball enough strong to [not] allow him to do the things from good positions. I need to let him play from difficult positions, so from there he (is) gonna have less chances to go to the net or to play his aggressive game.”
The 17-time major winner has almost always been able to execute that plan on clay, pinning Federer on the baseline and exploiting his one-handed backhand with heavy topspin forehands. It is difficult to see anything different transpiring on Friday, as even though Federer’s return to clay has been impressive it still doesn’t include any wins over anyone in the top 14.
This will not be a complete rout; the world No. 3 is too good for that. But on this surface it likely won’t go more than three sets.
Pick: Nadal in 3
[polldaddy poll=10335639]
Federer is better in the wind than Nadal. Nadal is terrible in the wind.
Oh damn getting it here. 3-0
The fearhand down the line makes it appearance
Are we here now!
Rafa is hitting way too much to the backhand!
Omg gave the break back
Break back. Nice.
That’s a statement.
Yesss!
Yess another break! Is serving one side tougher than the other?
I am trying to wake up. Just started watching. I see Rafa is up a break. Weather looks lousy.
The interesting things is Nadal is not out-hitting Fed. Fed has just framed a lot of shots because of the conditions. If he can limit the miss-hits we could have a competitive match on our hands.
Nice play rafa!☺
Come on Rafa!!
Rafa has to serve for the set into the wind
Damn the moment of truth
Yessss!☺☺☺😊
What a freaking backhand!
Comeeeeeee on!!! First set since Australia
Yes, Rafa gets the first set!
Watching Rafa serving for set or match is really a torture these days; he almost always makes hard work of it! Thankfully he wins the first set.
I was a wreck just watching Rafa serve for the first set! What a backhand!
NNY, You say u?
The weather was lousy but i didn’t even notice bcos I was so nervous. I had a huge sigh pf relief when Rafa won first set. People really wanted Roger to be more competitive. After a while they first resigned themselves to the fact the Rafa is just too good, conditions or not!! And Roger knew it too!
Awesome set of tennis from Nadal. If he continues to play like this and wins, it will be no shame for Fed. Roger is playing well but it’s been a different of a few points. Most crucial was his inability to hold when he had game point at 2-3. I don’t remember a match where the wind has been such a huge factor just in terms of side of the net. Come on Rog!
Thanks for the updates guy.. watch or Not watch. Being a Ratan is torture 😆. Atleast until he wins and thats when my bp / heartrates get normal.
Glad he won the 1st. Hopefully one more and then one more
Cold and windy. Worst possible conditions for Nadal. He likes it hot and dry.
I felt that coming!😢