#3. 2009 Madrid Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic
After winning the Madrid Masters in 2005, Nadal did not even reach the final in the following three years. In 2009, Nadal was having a good tournament, not dropping a single set till the quarter-finals. After beating Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals, Nadal was now up against Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.Djokovic drew first blood by winning the first set convincingly by the margin of 6-3. In the second set, Nadal saved two break points while serving at 4-4 and eventually took the set in a tiebreak to level the match. The third set was another exciting one as both players fought hard with the set going to a tiebreak. During the tiebreak, Nadal saved three match points before edging out Djokovic 11-9 to take his clay-court winning streak to 33.
The match lasted 4 hours and three minutes, thus being the longest three-set tennis match in Men’s tennis history before being overtaken at the semi-finals of the 2012 London Olympics between Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro.
However, Nadal would go on to lose the final against Roger Federer in straight sets.
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