Friday will mark the latest instalment of one of the most renowned rivalries in the history of men’s tennis.
At the French Open Roger Federer will take on Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. It will be the 39th meeting between the two, who first played each other at the 2004 Miami Open. Making it the third-most matchups between two players in the Open Era on the ATP Tour. Overall, Nadal leads their head-to-head 23-15. However, the Spaniard has lost to his Swiss rival the past five times they have faced each other.
A more detailed analysis of the head-to-head favours Nadal at Roland Garros. He has triumphed in nine out of their 12 meetings in grand slam tournaments. Including the three previous times they have clashed in the semi-finals. More specifically, at the French Open, the world No.2 has triumphed in all five of their previous meetings. However, the only time he was able to do so in straight sets was during the 2008 final when he dropped only four games.
| Year | Tournament | Series | Surface | Round | Winner | Score | Length | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 |  Roland Garros |
Major | Clay | Semifinals | Nadal | 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 | 2:47 | ||||
| 2006 | Roland Garros |
Major | Clay | Final | Nadal | 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4) | 3:02 | ||||
| 2006 |  Wimbledon |
Major | Grass | Final | Federer | 6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3 | 2:58 | ||||
| 2007 | Roland Garros |
Major | Clay | Final | Nadal | 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 | 3:10 | ||||
| 2007 | Wimbledon |
Major | Grass | Final | Federer | 7–6(9–7), 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 2–6, 6–2 | 3:45 | ||||
| 2008 | Roland Garros |
Major | Clay | Final | Nadal | 6–1, 6–3, 6–0 | 1:48 | ||||
| 2008 | Wimbledon |
Major | Grass | Final | Nadal | 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7 | 4:48 | ||||
| 2009 |  Australian Open |
Major | Hard | Final | Nadal | 7–5, 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 3–6, 6–2 | 4:23 | ||||
| 2011 | Roland Garros |
Major | Clay | Final | Nadal | 7–5, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–1 | 3:40 | ||||
| 2012 | Australian Open |
Major | Hard | Semifinals | Nadal | 6–7(5–7), 6–2, 7–6(7–5), 6–4 | 3:42 | ||||
| 2014 | Australian Open |
Major | Hard | Semifinals | Nadal | 7–6(7–4), 6–3, 6–3 | 2:24 | ||||
| 2017 | Australian Open |
Major | Hard | Final | Federer | 6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–3 | 3:37 |
On the clay Nadal is even more dominant. He has defeated the Swiss Maestro in 13 out of their previous 15 meetings on the surface. Federer’s only triumph was at the 2007 Hamburg Open and 2009 Madrid Open. However, Federer did take a long break from playing clay-court events that lasted a total of 1090 days (May 2016 to May 2019).
Despite his opponent’s dominance on the clay, Federer knows what it takes to down Nadal on the main stage. Doing so three times in a grand slam. Only Novak Djokovic has defeated Nadal more times in a major with six victories. On the other hand, Nadal has scored more wins over Federer in a major than any other player with nine victories alongside Djokovic.
Looking at their grand slam record overall, 20-time champion Federer has won 89 more main draw matches than his rival with 347 against 258. Although too much can’t be read into this statistic. 37-year-old Federer is four years older and made his debut in the majors at the 1999 French Open. Compared to Nadal, who started at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships. Overall, this year’s French Open is Federer’s 76th grand slam main draw and Nadal’s 56th.
Route to the semi-finals
Both players have dropped one set on route to the last four. Nadal did so against David Goffin in the third round and Federer dropped a set in his quarter-final clash with Stan Wawrinka. Nadal has spent only 14 extra minutes on the court compared to his rival at 10 hours and 59 minutes. Dropping only 33 games compared to 61 for his opponent.
Federer
R1 d. Lorenzo Sonego 62 64 64
R2 d. (LL) Oscar Otte 64 63 64
R3 d. Casper Ruud 63 61 76(8)
R4 d. Leonardo Mayer 62 63 63
QF d. No. 24 Stan Wawrinka 76(4) 46 76(5) 64
Average ranking of opponent – 75*Nadal
R1 d. (Q) Yannick Hanfmann 62 61 63
R2 d. (Q) Yannick Maden 61 62 64
R3 d. No. 27 David Goffin 61 63 46 63
R4 d. Juan Ignacio Londero 62 63 63
QF d. No. 7 Kei Nishikori 61 61 63
Average ranking of opponent – 84*
*based on the ATP rankings for the week commencing 3rd June 2019
What have they said about each other?
Federer will go into the match as the underdog given who he is taking on. Nevertheless, he is optimistic about coming out on top. Federer hasn’t won the French Open title since 2009 and it is the only major event he hasn’t won multiple times.
“Like against any player, there is always a chance. Otherwise nobody will be in the stadium to watch because everybody already knows the result in advance.” He said.
“Every match needs to be played before it’s decided. And that’s exactly what everybody believes when facing Rafa. They know it’s going to be tough. But you just never know. He might have a problem. He might be sick. You might be playing great or for some reason he’s struggling. Maybe there’s incredible wind, rain, 10 rain delays. You just don’t know.”
Meanwhile, Nadal has outlined the approach he intends to take. Vowing to be aggressive in order to dictate the rallies against his rival.
“There is no two matches the same. All the matches are different, because we always try things.” Nadal explained during his press conference on Wednesday.
“I really expect that he gonna plays aggressively, changing rhythms, going to the net. That’s my feeling, that he 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 don’t allow him to do the things from good positions. I need to let him play from difficult positions, so from there he gonna have less chances to go to the net or to play his aggressive game.”
What the experts think
Three time grand slam champion Mats Wilander believes tactics will be important for Federer is the upcoming clash. The Swede believes it is essential to take the ‘rhythm’ away from Nadal if he wants to progress to the final.
“What is the right way or the wrong way, only Roger Federer knows. He said a couple of days ago that he speaks to his coaches and he likes to go with his “feel” – it’ll be so important when he decides correctly when to serve and volley for example, if he gets that right then he has a chance.” Said Wilander.
“With Rafa Nadal on the other side with his forehand he can hit good returns all the way from back there on a second serve, serve and volley from Roger. While I am excited about it, I hope Roger has an aggressive frame of mind and thinks that he is going to take every ounce of rhythm away from Rafa.”
Tennis legend Rod Laver believes drop shots will be key for Federer. Speaking to Eurosport on Thursday, Laver said the he will put himself in a good position due to the ‘element of surprise’ in his shot-making.
“I think he’ll get to the net, he’ll do a lot of drop shots because Rafa will be way back deep, and he may actually do a lot of short serves. I think the element of surprise will put Roger in a great position because he’s learnt his drop shot now, he’s even doing it on his second serve – I think it’ll be a good match.” Said Laver.
“When Roger gets to the net and volleys the ball he often doesn’t go into the open court as that allows them to run, and it’s the second ball if they get it back where he’ll go for the winners. Roger’s not necessarily trying to make the guy run, but it’s putting him off.”
Finally, former Nadal coach uncle Toni says the Spaniard must find a way to prevent Federer from attacking him during the upcoming match.
“Rafael must prevent Federer from attacking him all the time,” Toni told Spanish media earlier this week.
“Federer, with the age he is, I understand, will try to force a quick game in which there is not much exchange of punches.
“If Rafael agrees to the contrary, although I recognise that it is not easy to find weaknesses to one of the best players in history.”
The match will get underway at 12:50 local time on court Philippe Chatrier.
