Top 5 Masters 1000 matches between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

#3 2008 Hamburg Masters final

Nadal won his maiden Hamburg Masters title after defeating Federer in a final that lasted almost three hours

In 2008, Rafael Nadal was making an attempt to bridge the gap between him and the World No.1 and was having a pretty good tournament at the Hamburg Masters. The southpaw overcame a tough three-set semi-final against Novak Djokovic to set up a rematch of the previous year’s final between himself and Federer.

Federer, on the other hand, hadn’t dropped a single set throughout the competition mainly because he had failed to play a single seeded player up until the final. The final, which was the last final of the Hamburg Masters as a Masters 1000 event, turned out to be one of the most exciting Masters 1000 finals of all-time.

After a pretty intense first set, Nadal somehow managed to edge out Federer to win it 7-5. However, the Swiss, who was suffering from a bout of mononucleosis during the time, came back to win the second set 7-6.

The third set turned out to be a relatively one-sided affair as Nadal outplayed Federer to take the set 6-3 and win his maiden Hamburg Masters title.