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Roger Federer has been a shining testament to sustained excellence and longevity during the course of his illustrious 22-year ongoing professional career which has seen him become the first player after Jimmy Connors (109 titles, 1274 match wins) to win over 100 singles titles (Dubai 2019) and record over 1200 match wins (1242).
The 20-time Grand Slam champion has the most wins at Grand Slam tournaments (362) and the season-ending ATP Finals (59) than any player while he is one of 3 players, the others being Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, to have appeared in 50 Masters 1000 finals.
Federer became the first player to play the final at all 4 Grand Slam tournaments at least 5 times when he reached his 5th Roland Garros final in 2011 where he lost to his arch rival and good friend Nadal for the fifth time in as many meetings at the claycourt major.
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The Federer-Nadal rivalry is one of the great all-time rivalries of the Open Era. The duo has met 40 times on the tour, with 24 meetings going the way of the younger Spaniard. Nadal is one of only 7 active players, 26 overall, to have a positive head-to-head record against the 38-year-old Swiss legend.
Nadal and Federer have met on the grandest of stages on most occasions, as is evidenced in all but 2 of their clashes materialising in the top-3 tiers of tournament category on tour - 14 in Grand Slams (Nadal leads 10-4), 5 at the ATP Finals (Federer leads 4-1), and 19 times at Masters 1000 tournaments (Nadal leads 12-7).
On that note, let us have a look at Federer's 5 most lopsided wins over his great rival.
#5. 2017 Shanghai Final: Federer beats Nadal 6-4, 6-3
A ruthless Federer conceded only 7 games in the 2017 Shanghai Masters final against his great rival Nadal to win his 6th title of the season in 7 finals and record the 700th hardcourt match win of his illustrious career.
In his fourth match of the season against the Spaniard, the 36-year-old employed an aggressive gameplan to perfection which had served him well in the pair's three other meetings in the finals of the Australian Open and Miami and the fourth round at Indian Wells.
Federer rode a lone break of the Nadal serve and an impressive 83% of first serve points won to take the opener 6-4. Refusing to let go his momentum in the second, a stunning drop volley helped him break the Spaniard for 3-2. Four games later, the Nadal serve cracked under more onslaught from Federer, with the Spaniard hitting a forehand into the net to end the contest.
With the win, Federer won 5 consecutive matches against Nadal for the first time in the pair's rivalry as the then 19-time Grand Slam champion moved level with Ivan Lendl (94) for most singles titles on the ATP Tour, behind all-time leader Jimmy Connors (109).
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#4. 2017 Miami Final: Federer beats Nadal 6-3, 6-4
Federer faced Nadal for the third time in 2017 following his wins over the Spaniard in the final of the Australian Open and the fourth round at Indian Wells.
Nadal squandered a pair of breakpoints in the opening game of the match and then defended two to hold for two games apiece. Following 6 more break points exchanged by the pair in the opener, Federer grabbed the crucial break to take a 5-3 lead before serving out the set without any hiccup.
In a tight second set, Federer saw a break point come and go at 3-3 on the Spaniard's serve before making the decisive move two games later to break for 5-4. A game later, Federer closed out a 6-3, 6-4 victory to win his first Miami title in 11 years and complete the third Indian Wells - Miami sunshine double of his career as Nadal fell to 0-5 in Miami finals.
#3: 2017 Indian Wells 4th Round: Federer beats Nadal 6-2, 6-3
In one of his convincing performances on hardcourt against his great rival, Federer, riding the momentum from his 5-set win over Nadal in the final of the Australian Open earlier in the season, surged to a 6-2, 6-3 win in the fourth round of the 2017 Indian Wells Masters.
Breaking Nadal in the opening game of the match, Federer saved a lone break point and laid siege on the Spaniard's serve in the eighth game to take a one-set lead for the loss of just two games.
It was more of the same in the second set as Nadal struggled to stay with Federer for significant swathes of the match, failing to muster any break points as he dropped serve twice more to lose 3 consecutive matches against his Swiss rival for the first time in the pair's legendary rivalry.
#2. 2007 ATP Finals semifinal: Federer beats Nadal 6-4, 6-1
In the pair's second meeting at the ATP Finals, then called the Tennis Masters Cup, Federer and Nadal met in the semifinals of the season-ending tournament for the second consecutive year.
Having split their four previous hardcourt meetings, Federer made the first move in the first set, with Nadal serving at 4-5 to stay in the set. The Swiss ripped a forehand winner down the line to grab the early initiative and would concede only one game in the remainder of the match.
Winning 20 of 21 points from 4-4 in the first set, Federer surged to a 6-4, 4-0 lead after Nadal double faulted to concede his serve for the second time in the second set. Three games later, Federer closed out only his second straight-set win over his Spanish rival to reduce his deficit in the pair's head-to-head rivalry to 6-8.
A day later, Federer would lift his 4th title at the tournament following a win over Nadal's compatriot, David Ferrer, in the final.
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#1. 2011 ATP Finals Round Robin: Federer beats Nadal 6-3, 6-0
In his most ruthless win over the Spaniard, Federer ambushed Nadal in the semifinals of the 2011 ATP Finals in London.
The then 30-year-old conceded just three games in the match to close out a swift 61-minute win to reach his 7th final at the season-ending tournament where he would lift a record 6th title.
Following losses in the semifinals in Miami and Madrid respectively, and the final at Roland Garros earlier in the season, Federer refused to cede an inch to Nadal on a surface with low bounce where the Spaniard was unable to trouble his Swiss rival with his trademark top-spin.
It was as perfect a match Federer could have produced against his great rival on a big stage, dropping just 8 points on serve, never facing a breakpoint, winning more than 50% of return points, and committing a miserly 6 errors on his 'weaker' backhand wing. In the process, Federer moved to 3-0 against Nadal at the ATP Finals, not conceding a set in any of his 3 meetings at the tournament against the Spaniard.
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