With the Indian Wells 2024 all set to entertain the tennis world, let’s take a trip back to the 2017 edition when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played each other. The match was special for more than one reason. Federer has bossed the Indian Wells Masters for the longest time, making it his fortitude. He has won 5 titles, which is the most by anyone alongside Novak Djokovic. The Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer clash of the 2017 edition was special, also because critics of the game had written both of them off before the year started. They were coping with injuries and tennis experts thought that would be the end of their careers.
Yet, it turned out to be a memorable experience for the fans. One main reason for this was Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer happened in the Round of 16. Usually, that did not happen at the peak of their rivalry. Prior to that, the last time they faced each other at such an early stage of an ATP Tournament was at the 2004 Miami Masters. Nadal won that match convincingly by 6-3, 6-3.
However, at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open, Federer beat Nadal equally convincingly by 6-2, 6-3. To date, these two instances remain the only times a Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer clash took place before the quarter-final stage of any tournament in their 15 years of rivalry.
The second reason why this match made history was due to the context around it. Both Nadal and Federer were written off by critics. But they were coming after playing the Australian Open final before this tournament. Federer won it 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. It is a rarity that two players who play in a Grand Slam final, just 8 weeks after that, go on to play each other in the Round of 16 clash of an ATP event.
But both of them met so early in the tournament because Nadal entered as the 5th seeded player and Federer as the 9th seed. Due to this, both these players were locked in the same half of the draw i.e. the upper half, and were bound to face each other before the quarter-final.
Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer Round of 16 clash at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open
As the 5th and 9th seeds respectively, Nadal and Federer were not the outright favorites to win the tournament that year. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Stan Wawrinka were. Federer started on a high, beating Stephane Robert 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the match. He then beat Steve Johnson Jr. 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), winning both the tie-breakers.
Rafael Nadal too looked in good touch, beating Guido Pella and Fernando Verdasco in the second and third rounds respectively. He won those matches by 6-3, 6-2, and 6-3, 7-5 respectively.
This was already enough to shut the critics down, with the way they were playing. But on the match day with each other, Federer found his rhythm and was in song. At age 36, Federer bettered the 31-year-old Nadal’s speed, agility, and stamina. Roger Federer went on to win that year’s tournament. It was his 5th and last Indian Wells title.
