Federer vs Nadal: Top 5 Grand Slam matches between the LEGENDS

In 2004, two of the greatest tennis players of all time faced each other on the tennis court for the first time. And we tennis fans can't thank God enough that they did, for it marked the beginning of the Golden Era of Tennis.

This was also the first page of a book which in years to come would become one of the greatest tennis rivalries in the history of tennis. Over the years, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have faced each other 38 times on the tour, with 12 of those meetings coming in Grand Slams.

Here, we take a look back in history and remember the best of those encounters.

5. 2011 French Open

Nadal and Federer at the 2011 French Open

Rafael Nadal d. Roger Federer 7-5 7-6(3) 5-7 6-1

Match Stats

Time Duration: 3 hrs 40 minutes

Points Won: 143-130 (Nadal)

Aces: 11-4 (Federer)

Winners: 51-37 (Federer)

Unforced Errors: 37-55 (Nadal)

Background

2011 was the year of the other member of the Big 3 i.e. Novak Djokovic. Djokovic had won the Australian Open in January and was on a 37-match win streak before the Roland Garros tournament.

Nadal was also just about at his prime, winning 3 Grand Slams in the previous year. Federer, meanwhile, hadn't reached a Grand Slam final since the 2010 Australian Open.

The tournament started with John Isner giving Nadal a scare in the first round; he had to fight 5 sets to go past the big-serving American, which was completely unexpected on the slow clay of Roland Garros. But Nadal soon hit his stride, defeating Robin Soderling in the quarters and Andy Murray in the Semis.

Federer didn't drop a single set until his semifinal match where he faced Djokovic. Very few people gave Federer a chance considering the Serb's amazing run, and also because the surface suited Djokovic's style more than Federer's.

But the Swiss Maestro surprised everyone by defeating Novak with one of his best performance on clay.

The match:

As the match began Roger held his serve and broke Nadal's right after that. One more easy hold of serve and the 2009 champion was 3-0 up.

In the 4th game, Nadal held his serve to start his account. A few games later Roger was 5-2 up and was just a game away from taking the first set. Nadal was serving to stay in the set, and with some fabulous winners Federer had a set point. The Swiss-built the point beautifully but his backhand drop landed just missed the line, by a centimeter.

From there, Nadal turned things around completely to win 5 games in a row and grab the set.

Nadal continued his form in the second set, breaking Fed's serve in the first game. Nadal held his serve to go 2-0 up, but Federer ended Rafa's 7 game streak with a few powerful aces.

In the fourth game Rafa had 2 more break points to go two breaks up, but Roger saved those with two aces in a row and held his serve.

In the 8th game Roger broke back to level the set at 4-4. But in the next game Rafa broke Roger's serve again and was serving at a set point up. The Swiss then saved a couple of set points to level the set again, only to lose it in the tiebreak.

In the third Federer did to Nadal what Nadal did to him in the first set. The Spaniard was serving at 4-2 and that's when Roger broke back and went on to win the set 7-5.

In the first game of the fourth set, Federer had 3 break consecutive break points but the 5 time champion saved all of those. Federer won the next game and that was the last game he won in that match.

Soon, Nadal was lifting his 6th Roland Garros trophy. This was the last time Roger reached the French Open final.

4. 2007 Wimbledon semifinal

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Roger Federer d. Rafael Nadal 7-6(7) 4-6 7-6(3) 2-6 6-2

Match Stats:

Time Duration: 3 hrs 45 minutes

Points Won: 165-158 (Federer)

Aces: 23-2 (Federer)

Winners: 80-58 (Federer)

Unforced Errors: 41-59 (Nadal)

Background

2007 was almost a replay year of 2006. Roger reached the final of all four Majors and won three, except the French. Nadal had reached the final of the Wimbledon previous year and lost to Roger in the final.

Just a few weeks previously the Spaniard had defeated the Swiss in the Roland Garros final, and was determined to change the result of Wimbledon from last year.

Federer reached his fifth straight final dropping just one set, in the quarterfinal against Juan Carlos Ferrero. Nadal on the other hand had to play two back to back five set matches. One against Robin Soderling in the third round when he was 2 sets to love up and yet had to dig deep to advance to the next round, where he was two sets to love down and came back to win three straight sets against Mikhail Youzhny.

Federer beat the Frenchman Richard Gasquet in straight sets in the semis to reach the final. Nadal faced Djokovic, who retired in the third set due to injury.

The Match:

The first set began with Roger holding his serve with fair ease and Nadal getting broken in a long and tight game. Nadal broke back in the fifth game and held his serve to level the set. After that the two players held their serves to go into the tiebreak.

Federer started strong and was three set points up after a few moments, but Nadal fought back to save all of them to level the tiebreak at 6-6. Federer went on to win the tiebreak 9-7, on his 5th attempt.

The second set started with both men holding their serves. Nadal created two break points and Federer was 15-40 down in the 6th game, but he responded with 3 aces in a row to go a game point up and then converted it to level the set at 3-3.

Then after a few holds of serve Nadal created two set points on Federer's serve. He converted the first with a fabulous backhand to level the match at one set all.

The third set went on without any breaks of serve into the tiebreak. Soon Federer was 6-2 up, having four set points. Nadal saved the first one but couldn't save the 2nd and lost the set.

Nadal came out all guns blazing into the 4th set, winning the first four games and then winning the set 6-2.

The fifth and deciding set started with both men holding their serve. In the 3rd and 5th games Nadal had 2 break points in each, but the 4-time defending champion saved all of them and then broke Nadal's serve twice to win his 5th Wimbledon in a row.

3. 2009 Australian Open final

Nadal and Federer at the 2009 Australian Open final

Rafael Nadal d. Roger Federer 7-5 3-6 7-6(3) 3-6 6-2

Match Stats:

Time Duration: 4 hrs 19 minutes

Points Won: 174-173 (Nadal)

Aces: 11-4 (Federer)

Winners: 64-44 (Federer)

Unforced Errors: 58-67 (Nadal)

Background:

Nadal was the No. 1 player at the end of 2008 with the Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles as well as the Olympic gold medal, and so was seeded first at the Australian Open. Federer was seeded No. 2.

Nadal reached the semis without dropping a set, but Federer had a tough five-set match against Tomas Berdych in the 4th round. Federer had easy straight set victories in the quarters and the semis to reach the final.

Nadal had to face his compatriot Fernando Verdasco, who was in the form of his life. The two Spaniards had an epic match which lasted more than 5 hours but in the end Nadal set up another Slam final against Roger.

The Match:

The first set started with both men breaking each other's serve, then again breaking each other's serve in the 6th and 7th games to reach 5-all. In the 11th game, Nadal broke again and then held his serve to win the set.

The first 4 games of the second set went with serve and the next 2 saw breaks. In the 7th game, Federer held his serve and in the 8th broke Nadal's on the 5th break point of the game. Federer leveled the match by winning the set 6-3.

The third set also went with serve early on, with both players holding till the 8th game. In the 9th game, Nadal was 0-40 down on his serve, but miraculously held on to keep the set level.

The 11th game saw the same story as Nadal again saved 3 break points to stay alive in the set, which then went into the tiebreak.

The first 6 points in the tiebreak made it 3-3, but the next 4 points were won by Nadal, who went on to take a 2 sets to 1 lead.

The fourth set began with Federer taking the first two games and then Nadal won the next two to level the set. In the 5th game, Federer saved 5 break points to stay on serve and then broke Nadal's serve, going on to win the set to level the match again.

Nadal completely dominated the 5th set and broke to win the it 6-2, and with it his first hard court Grand Slam. Federer was so disappointed with the loss that he broke down during the post match speech.

2. 2017 Australian Open final

Nadal and Federer at the 2017 Australian Open

Roger Federer d. Rafael Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3

Match Stats:

Time Duration: 3 hrs 38 minutes

Points Won: 150-139 (Federer)

Aces: 20-4 (Federer)

Winners: 72-35 (Federer)

Unforced Errors: 26-57 (Nadal)

Background:

At the beginning of 2017 Nadal and Federer were both coming back from a break. Nadal was ranked #9 in the world and Federer was 17th.

Nadal had his last Grand Slam title at the 2014 French Open and Federer's last Major was 2012 Wimbledon. Many were of the opinion that both these legends wouldn't win a Slam again, so both Rafa and Roger started the tournament with low expectations.

The first two rounds were fairly easy for both, but in the third Nadal had to fight five sets to go past the young Alexander Zverev in an epic match. The fourth round proved to be tough for Roger; this time he had to play a five set match against Kei Nishikori.

Both registered straight set victories in the quarterfinal, but both had tough semifinals. Federer was pitted against compatriot Stan Wawrinka; Federer won the first two sets and Stan won the next two, but Federer won the fifth to enter the final.

Nadal's semifinal was against Grigor Dimitrov which also went into the fifth set, where he was able to seal the deal to enter his 4th Australian Open final to meet his arch rival.

The Match:

The first set started with both men holding their serve until Federer broke Nadal in the 7th game and went on to win the set 6-4. Nadal began dominating the second set, winning the first 4 games; Federer fought back a little by winning the next 2 but lost the set 3-6.

The third set had some very close games, but most of them went Federer's way and so he won the set by the score of 6-1.

Nadal fought back in the 4th set, breaking his opponent's serve in the 4th game and won the set to level the match.

Nadal began the fifth in the best possible manner, breaking in the very first game. Federer had 4 break points in the next game, but the Spaniard saved all to go 2-0 up.

After a hold of serve from both sides of the net, Nadal was 3-1 up and very close to claiming his 2nd Australian Open title. That's when Roger turned things around completely and won the next 5 games in a row to win his 18th Grand Slam title.

This was the beginning of an unforgettable comeback for Federer in 2017; he went on to win Wimbledon that year too.

1. 2008 Wimbledon final

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Nadal def. Federer: 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7

Match Stats:

Time Duration: 4 hrs 48 minutes

Points Won: 209-204 (Nadal)

Aces: 20-5 (Federer)

Winners: 98-65 (Federer)

Unforced errors: 41-65 (Nadal)

Background:

Federer had already won 5 Wimbledon titles in a row, and Nadal was the runner-up in the previous two. Though Federer had won the last two finals on this ground, everyone could sense that the Spaniard was getting closer to ending Federer's dominance on the grass of the All England Club.

It had just been a few weeks since Nadal had thrashed Federer in a one-sided final at Roland Garros. And legends like Bjorn Borg predicted Nadal to be that year's Wimbledon Champion.

Both the top 2 seeds reached the final fairly easily - Roger without dropping a set and Nadal losing just one.

The Match:

Federer served first to start the proceedings but got broken in his second service game. Nadal held all of his service games to clinch the first set 6-4.

The second set started exactly opposite to the first, with Roger breaking immediately after holding his own serve. After three more games the Swiss Maestro was up 4-1 in the set, but Nadal fought back as always - winning 5 straight games to win the set 6-4.

The third set went the distance, with both of the players holding their serves and saving a few break points in the process. Federer dominated the tiebreak and clinched it with an ace in the end.

The fourth set saw the players hold serve without facing a single break point in the process. The tiebreak started with Roger gaining an early mini-break, but he soon gave it back. Nadal was up 5-2 on his serve, but the pressure of a big point started to build and Nadal double-faulted.

The Swiss went on to win the next four points to get a set point at 6-5. This was Federer's turn to panic, as he mistimed a forehand and the score was level.

The game of gaining and losing of match points and set points went on until finally, Roger converted one of the set points to level the match.

The final set was no exception to the rest of the match - numerous service games held and break points erased from both ends. Finally in the 15th game, Nadal broke Roger's serve and seemingly his spirit too.

But the five time champion was yet to give up. He saved another championship point in the final game of the tournament, but this was Nadal's moment to shine and he did so by holding his serve and then he falling to the ground in joy.