Roger Federer set to play ‘special’ final match of career on Friday with Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal says that he will play a “special” final match against Roger Federer on Friday in Madrid, the second time this year that the two men will play an all-time battle, but in consecutive days.
The Spaniard won his 15th title in Madrid after prevailing 6-2 3-6 6-3 6-1 in a thrilling five-setter on the same court against the world number one.
Federer admitted to being happy that after his quarter-final with Nadal on Friday he has played five times with the world number one, but now he wants to play a final when the calendar turns back to July, knowing that the win could well be his final for the decade.
Federer is 33 years old and Nadal is 32, meaning the two will have played in 24 of the 33 meetings between the two that have taken place since Federer became world number one. The other was in the Australian Open final in 2013.
The match between the two will be watched on television by more than 16 million fans around the world and will be at the Madrid Arena, the same venue that served as the final of the ATP Finals and which Nadal won in 2009 while Federer lost.
When Nadal first broke Federer in the semi-finals of the French Open in 2011, he claimed the match as a “special” final while Federer said that the two are “like brothers” and that Nadal “deserves” to win the tournament.
The two have also played in the Olympic Games six times, with Federer winning two gold medals and Nadal three bronze medals. Nadal has played at least two finals in every Olympic Games that he has played over the last 15 years and he has won two Olympic singles titles.
The only four men to have beaten Nadal more times — and Nadal is a two-time champion — than Federer are Roger