The first semi-final of the French Open and this is going to be one more chapter of the greatest rivalry in modern tennis. Roger Federer, who is playing his first clay court season since 2015. He will take on the current champion of Roland Garros Rafael Nadal. To have more insights on this ATP Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal match please check out the preview below.
Roger Federer
As it was mentioned previously, Federer is playing his first clay-court season since 2015. He has already reached semi-final at the biggest clay tournament. Even though he is considered the best of all time. It’s still a great achievement for a guy who doesn’t even play on clay usually. It only shows us once again how great Roger Federer really is. Roger had a lot tougher quarter-final as he took down his compatriot Stan Wawrinka in a lengthy four-set match. Compared to Rafa who beat Nishikori in straight sets.
“I knew when I signed up for the clay that hopefully, that’s going to happen. If I had a different mindset to avoid him, then I should not have played the clay. So I think it helped me to play so well so far.” – Roger Federer said in his interview when he was asked about facing up Nadal. And he is absolutely right. To have a chance at winning any title on clay you must go past Rafa. We will see if Roger has enough left in the tank to do it after such a long break on clay.
Rafael Nadal
Nadal easily defeated Kei Nishikori in straight sets to book his spot in his 12th French Open semi-final where he will face Roger Federer. Nadal, who turned 33 on Monday, is three Grand Slam titles behind Federer in the all-time list and with a victory on Friday he might get one step closer at making it to only 2 Grand Slams difference.
“My level has been very good throughout the tournament and I am happy to be able to come back and play another day” – Rafa commented when being asked about reaching the semi-final. Nadal has given away only 1 set at this tournament and is definitely looking unstoppable. An interesting fact is that Nadal usually struggles against Federer on hard ground. He lost last 5 matches against the Swiss but has won 4 in a row on clay. Will be interesting to see if Nadal can increase the winning streak on clay against Federer.
Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal H2H
Rafal Nadal has won 13 out of 15 matches they’ve played on clay ground including 5 out of 5 at Roland Garros.
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