World Tennis Magazine

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tennis center at crandon park

Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal: A look back at their previous Miami match-ups

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KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet for the first time in North America in six years Friday in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. Ironically, the previous two North American meetings between the two tennis titans have come on the courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in this island paradise in the shadow of the Miami skyline.

Rafael Nadal

In the first career meeting between the two, Nadal, then 17-years-old, defeated Federer in the Round of 32 in Miami 6-3, 6-3, while Federer turned the tide the following year in the final, coming back from two-sets-to-love down to win 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1 back when this event boasted a best-of-five final.

Rene Stauffer, the esteemed Swiss tennis writer and author of the book ROGER FEDERER: QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com), details the previous two Roger vs. Rafa clashes in North America here at the Sony Ericsson Open in his book. Below are the excerpts detailing the first two matches of this epic rivalry.

2004

An opponent that would bring Federer to his knees, however, appeared shortly after Indian Wells—illness. Immediately after the final, Federer began to run a fever and suffer from nausea and muscle pains. Despite his illness, he did not cancel his pre-arranged trip to Portland, Ore., the home of his clothing sponsor “Nike,” for a promotional visit, but en route to Miami for the next tournament, Federer was forced to stop and check into an airport hotel in Los Angeles to rest and try to recover. As he and Mirka finally arrived in Florida, he considered withdrawing from the tournament, but when rain gave him an extra day of rest, he decided to give it a go.

After he was able to muster up enough strength to negotiate a three-set win in his first match against No. 54-ranked Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, Federer next drew the highly-regarded Spaniard Rafael Nadal. The 17-year-old left-hander from Mallorca played what he described at the time as the best match of his life and dominated the listless Federer 6-3, 6-3. The loss was the most decisive defeat Federer experienced in a year. Nadal also became the youngest player to defeat the Wimbledon champion. Federer was not surprised that he lost since he was not yet recovered from his illness.

Nonetheless, he suspected that Nadal would be a dangerous rival coming of age. “He will become the most powerful left-hander in tennis in the coming years,” Federer prophesized.

2005

After defeating world No. 2 Lleyton Hewitt in the final of Indian Wells, Federer won the title in Key Biscayne, Fla., for the first time, defeating the young 18-year-old Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who defeated Federer decisively at the same event the previous year.

Entering Key Biscayne, Nadal moved to No. 6 in the year-to-date ATP Champions Race with victories in tournaments in Brazil’s Costa do Sauipe and in Acapulco in Mexico. His match winning streak hit 15 as he entered the Key Biscayne final with Federer. The burly left-hander played fearlessly in his first appearance on the big stage of professional tennis and to everyone’s amazement, he led Federer 6-2, 7-6, 4-1 after two hours of play. “I looked up at the scoreboard and only hoped that 6-1 would not appear there ten minutes later,” Federer explained. “I blew one opportunity after another and I thought, ‘This can’t be happening.’” In an earlier time in such a situation, Federer would have thrown in the towel but these days were well in his past. Somehow, he crawled back into the match and, came back from a two-sets-to-love deficit to win 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1.

The Indian Wells/Key Biscayne “double” that went favorably for such players as Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Marcelo Rios and Andre Agassi before him, now garnered Federer 1,000 points in the world rankings, the equivalent of a Grand Slam title. He was now 2,245 points ahead of Hewitt in the No. 2 spot. The conversations that Federer may be in a “crisis” quickly faded. “This is a great moment in my career,” Federer said after his win over Nadal. “Making a two-set comeback against a player of his caliber and then winning it isn’t normal—even for me.”

The Last Time Federer-Nadal Played in the USA

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The day was April 3, 2005.

The scene was the Tennis Center at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne in Florida, just outside of downtown Miami.

The occasion was the singles final of the NASDAQ-100 Open – the event now known as the Sony Ericsson Open.

The contestants were Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – competing for only the second time in their careers.

Federer was the reigning Wimbledon and US Open champion with four major titles in his closet. Nadal was still two months shy of winning his first major title at the 2005 French Open.

The significance of this match was that it marked the last time that the two modern legends of men’s tennis played a match in the United States.

As documented in my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com), Federer, the world No. 1, was two points from defeat in the third-set tie-break, but rallied from two-sets-to-love down to defeat Nadal 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1 in 3 hours, 43 minutes to win the NASDAQ-100 Open title. Federer trailed 4-2 in the third set and 5-3 in the third-set tie-break before he rallied to win his 22nd consecutive match and his 18th consecutive final. Said Federer after the match, “I’ve hardly ever come back in a situation like that. It was a big moment for me. It was uphill. I was trying to force him too much, but I got myself to relax. I thought I’d be all right if I could get him into a fifth set.”

Swiss tennis writer Rene Stauffer, in his book, the newly updated and re-released paperback ROGER FEDERER: QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com), summarizes the last U.S. match between Federer and Nadal in this book excerpt:

After defeating world No. 2 Lleyton Hewitt in the final of Indian Wells, Federer won the title in Key Biscayne, Fla., for the first time, defeating the young 18-year-old Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who defeated Federer decisively at the same event the previous year.

Entering Key Biscayne, Nadal moved to No. 6 in the year-to-date ATP Champions Race with victories in tournaments in Brazil’s Costa do Sauipe and in Acapulco in Mexico. His match winning streak hit 15 as he entered the Key Biscayne final with Federer. The burly left-hander played fearlessly in his first appearance on the big stage of professional tennis and to everyone’s amazement, he led Federer 6-2, 7-6, 4-1 after two hours of play. “I looked up at the scoreboard and only hoped that 6-1 would not appear there ten minutes later,” Federer explained. “I blew one opportunity after another and I thought, ‘This can’t be happening.’” In an earlier time in such a situation, Federer would have thrown in the towel but these days were well in his past. Somehow, he crawled back into the match and, came back from a two-sets-to-love deficit to win 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1.

The Indian Wells/Key Biscayne “double” that went favorably for such players as Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Marcelo Rios and Andre Agassi before him, now garnered Federer 1,000 points in the world rankings, the equivalent of a Grand Slam title. He was now 2,245 points ahead of Hewitt in the No. 2 spot. The conversations that Federer may be in a “crisis” quickly faded. “This is a great moment in my career,” Federer said after his win over Nadal. “Making a two-set comeback against a player of his caliber and then winning it isn’t normal—even for me.”

One year before their 2004 Key Biscayne final, on March 28, 2004, at the same event on the same court, the iconic rivalry kicked off when a seventeen-year-old Nadal registered the biggest win of his young career at the time, upsetting the world No. 1 Federer 6-3, 6-3 in the third round. Said Nadal, the youngest player in the 2004 NASDAQ-100 field, “I played almost perfect tennis.” Federer’s loss was only his second in 25 matches in the 2004 season. Said Federer at the time of Nadal, his future top rival, “He hit some really incredible shots, and that’s what youngsters do. I’ve heard a lot about him and saw some of his matches, so this is not a big surprise.” Stauffer also summarizes this match in ROGER FEDERER: QUEST FOR PERFECTION in this excerpt:

The 2004 season was turning into a triumphal march for Federer. He was celebrated wherever he appeared. His results continued to be worthy of a world No. 1. His first defeat of the year—and in manner of three months— came in mid-February, when he lost to Tim Henman in the quarterfinals of Rotterdam. He quickly regained form and successfully defended his title in Dubai, defeating the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the final. At the Tennis Masters Series event in Indian Wells, Federer avenged his loss to Henman in the championship match and realized his first “countable” victory against another of his early nemeses. The win over Henman was only his second in eight matches, with Federer’s only previous win over the Brit in Key Biscayne in 2002 being decided when Henman was forced to quit after one set due to a stiff neck. His victory, therefore, was especially satisfying. “Now I believe that no opponent has a psychological advantage over me,” he said.

An opponent that would bring Federer to his knees, however, appeared shortly after Indian Wells—illness. Immediately after the final, Federer began to run a fever and suffer from nausea and muscle pains. Despite his illness, he did not cancel his pre-arranged trip to Portland, Ore., the home of his clothing sponsor “Nike,” for a promotional visit, but en route to Miami for the next tournament, Federer was forced to stop and check into an airport hotel in Los Angeles to rest and try to recover. As he and Mirka finally arrived in Florida, he considered withdrawing from the tournament, but when rain gave him an extra day of rest, he decided to give it a go.

After he was able to muster up enough strength to negotiate a three-set win in his first match against No. 54-ranked Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, Federer next drew the highly-regarded Spaniard Rafael Nadal. The 17-year-old left-hander from Mallorca played what he described at the time as the best match of his life and dominated the listless Federer 6-3, 6-3. The loss was the most decisive defeat Federer experienced in a year. Nadal also became the youngest player to defeat the Wimbledon champion. Federer was not surprised that he lost since he was not yet recovered from his illness. Nonetheless, he suspected that Nadal would be a dangerous rival coming of age. “He will become the most powerful left-hander in tennis in the coming years,” Federer prophesized.

15 YEARS TO THE DATE OF HER KEY BISCAYNE FINAL, DATE-KRUMM STILL ROLLING ALONG

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By Randy Walker

It was 15 years ago today that Kimiko Date was playing in the Key Biscayne, final, battling the venerable legend Steffi Graf. Date was not the winner on this day back in 1995, losing 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the then Lipton Championships, but here, exactly 15 years later, she is still out on the courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park, battling away as a 39-year old. Thursday she plays her second-round match at the Sony Ericsson Open against Nadia Petrova of Russia.

Date, who after marriage to German race car driver Michael Krumm now plays under the name of Kimiko Date-Krumm, and is into her third-year of a comeback that started in 2008 after a 12-year retirement. Back in 1995, Date staged one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the Key Biscayne event, coming back from a 1-6, 1-5 deficit to defeat Gabriela Sabatini 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) in a 3 hour, 5 minute semifinal that featured 18 double faults from Sabatini.

Another interesting anniversary involving a player on the card today in Key Biscayne involves Agnieska Radwanska. It was three years ago today that the Pole, then a 17-year-old, upset Martina Hingis 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the Sony Ericsson Open second round. Hingis, however, settled for a nice consolation milestone – becoming the fourth player in the history of women’s tennis to eclipse the $20 million mark in career prize money, joining Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova. Said Hingis, “It’s not great doing it this way.”

Other events from this date, as documented in my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com) are as follows;

2001 – Eighteen-year-old Andy Roddick, ranked No. 119 in the world, starts the changing of the guard in American tennis as he upsets Pete Sampras 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the third round of the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Roddick’s victory is his first over a player ranked in the top 10. It was the first time Sampras loses to a player outside the Top 100 since losing to No. 205 Karim Alami in the first round of Doha, Qatar in January 1994.

2002 – Pete Sampras is defeated by Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (1), 6-1 in the third round of the Ericsson Open in what eventually becomes his last match at the event that is regarded as the fifth-biggest tournament in the world.

1990 – Nineteen-year-old Andre Agassi defeats Stefan Edberg 6-1, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 to win the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla., for the first time in his career. Agassi goes on to win the tournament a record six times, also winning in 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002 and 2003.

2006 – Defending champion Kim Clijsters loses her opening match at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., to No. 54-ranked Jill Craybas of the United States 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. Clijsters double-faults 11 times and commits 78 unforced errors. “It was sort of in my hands,” says Clijsters, seeded No. 2. “I was the one making the mistakes. I was just trying to do a little too much.”

2007 – World No. 1 Justine Henin is two points from defeat and rallies from a 1-5 final-set deficit to defeat Virginie Razzano 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5) in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Says Henin, “I came back from nowhere almost. It’s this kind of situation that I play my best tennis. I proved it many times in the past. I probably love to be under pressure — but it’s good to win in two sets, too.”