Many regard the last decade as the ‘golden age’ of tennis. Indeed there have been so many epic encounters between legends of the game in this period. However, none is more captivating than the Federer vs Nadal encounter at Wimbledon final in 2008. Popular public opinion and tennis legends regard this match as the greatest ever. With Fortunes swung like a see-saw in the match  with highest quality of tennis on display by both players. In a battle of enormous stakes, it was Nadal who finally prevailed  over Federer in 5 sets that spanned over 4 hours and 48 minutes. With Federer and Nadal teaming up for the Laver Cup, we thought we should look back at the greatest ever match played during the course of their rivalry. We look at the set wise analysis of the match and the key moments in each match.

Set 1: Federer vs Nadal : 6-4 Rafael Nadal

Federer had always been successful in coming up with the big points in big matches. But from the beginning of this one, it was Nadal turning the tables on Federer. Nadal struck the first blow when he broke in the third game of the match to go up 2–1. Federer had a break opportunity in the very next game and two more when trailing 4–5, but couldn’t convert any of them and Nadal took the first set 6–4. NADAL 1 FEDERER 0

About the author

Sarang Bargale