5 amazing tennis facts about the careers of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are two of the biggest names in men's tennis. Together with Novak Djokovic, the duo comprise two-thirds of the game's 'Big 3'.

Federer and Nadal have the most Grand Slam titles, most Grand Slam match wins and most Masters 1000 match wins in the Open Era. The duo also own the most titles on all three surfaces prevalent in the game today.

Federer has the most titles on hard court (71) and grass court (19) while Nadal is the all-time title leader on clay (56). Nadal (82) and Federer (77) also have the most outdoor titles of any player in the game.

The two arch-rivals and close friends (not an oxymoron) own the longest-ever win streaks on all 3 surfaces. Federer's 65 consecutive wins on grass (2003 Halle to 2008 Wimbledon) and 56 on hardcourt (2005 Rotterdam to 2006 Dubai) are the most by any player on the surface.

Meanwhile Nadal's 81-match win-streak on clay (2005 Monte Carlo to 2007 Hamburg) is the longest on any surface, ahead of Federer's 65 consecutive wins on grass and John McEnroe's 65 consecutive wins on carpet.

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Incidentally, all 3 streaks on the 3 surfaces came to an end at the hands of the other player. Federer's 65-match grass court win streak (2008 Wimbledon final) and 56-match hard court win streak (2006 Dubai final) were both ended by Nadal. The Swiss maestro returned the compliment by bringing Nadal's stunning 81-match winning-run on clay to a close in the 2007 Hamburg Masters final.

The duo hold the records for the most weeks in the top 3 positions of the men's singles rankings. Federer has the most weeks at No. 1 (310 weeks) and No. 3 (210 weeks on the week starting 3 November 2019) while Nadal's 332 weeks at No. 2 is also a record.

While these are some of the most prominent feats of the game's most recognizable duo, let us have a look at five other lesser-known but still amazing facts about their respective tennis careers.

#1 Federer and Nadal have the most number of Slam-winning seasons in the Open Era

Nadal (left) and Federer

While Federer (20) and Nadal (19) have the most Grand Slam titles of any player in the Open Era, the duo also possess the most number of Slam-winning seasons.

The two all-time Grand Slam titlists have together swept all 4 major titles in a season on 4 occasions (2006: Federer-3, Nadal-1; 2007- Federer-3, Nadal-1; 2010-Federer-1, Nadal-3; 2017 (Federer-2, Nadal-2).

Federer won a major title for 8 consecutive seasons (2003 to 2010), before tallying 3 more in 2012 and 2017-18. Nadal's 10 consecutive major-winning seasons (2005 to 2014) is an Open Era record, while the Spaniard has also won Grand Slam titles in 3 other seasons (2017-19).

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#2 By ranking position, Federer has had his most wins and most losses when ranked No. 1, while the same holds true for Nadal at No. 2

Nadal (left) and Federer teamed up on the same side for the only time at the 2017 Laver Cup in Prague

Roger Federer holds the record for most weeks (310) and most consecutive weeks (237) at No. 1, while Rafael Nadal holds a similar record when ranked No. 2 (most weeks - 332, most consecutive weeks - 160).

In terms of wins by ranking positions in their respective careers, perhaps not surprisingly, Federer has had his highest number of wins (430) when ranked No. 1 while Nadal's 392 wins at No. 2 is his highest among all ranking positions held by the Spaniard.

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What may come as a surprise though is the fact that Federer and Nadal have also suffered the most losses in their respective careers when ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.

Federer's 56 (of 270) losses have come when he has been the world's numero uno player, and the same also holds true for Nadal at No. 2 (73 of 194 career losses).

#3 Only 3 players have a winning head-to-head record against both Federer and Nadal

Federer and Nadal

Among all players to have played both Federer and Nadal, Novak Djokovic is one of only 3 players to have a winning head-to-head record against the duo. Djokovic, along with Federer and Nadal, forms the third part of tennis's Big-3 trifecta.

No other player has played Federer (49) and Nadal (54) as many times as Djokovic has. The Serb had just one win from his first 6 matches against Federer and Nadal each but in due course took the lead in his head-to-head rivalry against the duo.

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Federer (23) and Nadal (26) have beaten Djokovic more times than they have beaten any other player. But they have also endured more losses (Federer-26, Nadal-28) against the Serb than against any other player.

Djokovic's 54 wins over Federer and Nadal is thrice the next best combined tally of wins (Andy Murray - 18) by a player against the duo. However, the Scot has a losing head-to-head record against both players.

Only 3 other players have 10 or more combined wins against Federer and Nadal - Lleyton Hewitt (13), David Nalbandian (10) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10). But like Murray, all three have a losing head-to-head record against the duo.

The two other players to have a winning head-to-head against both Federer and Nadal are Dominik Hrbaty (2-1 against Federer, 3-1 against Nadal) and Alex Corretja (3-2 against Federer and 2-0 against Nadal).

#4 Federer and Nadal are the only players, apart from Ivan Lendl, to reach 8 (or more) consecutive finals at 2 different tournaments

Roger Federer (left) and Rafael Nadal

Federer is the only player in the Open Era to reach 10 or more consecutive finals at 2 different tournaments. The Swiss maestro has reached 13 consecutive finals (2006 to 2019; did not play in 2016) at his hometown tournament of Basel, where he won his 10th and most recent title this season.

The Swiss, who is also a 10-time titlist at Halle, made it to the title round at the German grass court tournament in 10 consecutive appearances from 2003 to 2015 (did not play in 2007 and 2009).

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Nadal is one of only 3 players to make 8 or more consecutive finals at 2 different tournaments, the other being Ivan Lendl. The Spanish southpaw reached 9 consecutive finals at Monte Carlo from 2005 to 2013, winning the title each time at the Principality except in 2012.

The record 12-time Roland Garros champion has also reached 9 consecutive title matches in Barcelona from 2005 to 2013 (did not play in 2010).

Nadal's 8 consecutive titles at Monte Carlo (2005-2012) and Barcelona (2005 to 2013) are unrivaled by any other player.

#5 The highest number of titles for both Federer and Nadal have come at the expense of each other

Federer and Nadal

Federer (103) and Nadal (84) have the most singles titles of any active player and are in second and fourth places respectively in the all-time list.

The highest number of Federer's titles, by opponent, have come against Nadal (10), the most recent being at the 2017 Shanghai Masters. Federer has won 3 Grand Slam titles (2006-07 Wimbledon, 2017 Australian Open), 1 ATP Finals title (2010), 5 Masters 1000 titles and 1 ATP 500 title (2015 Basel) at the expense of the Spaniard.

The same also holds true for Nadal. The Spaniard has beaten Federer in more finals (14) than he has done against any other opponent. Nadal's last victory over Federer in a title match was at Rome 2013.

The southpaw's victories over Federer in a final have yielded him 7 Grand Slam titles, 6 Masters 1000 titles and 1 ATP 500 title (2006 Dubai).

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