As we start the Masters Series part of the ATP calendar, let’s compare Roger and Rafa at the same age again.
This time we’ll look at what each of them had won at the age of 24 years and 9 months – below is the summary of results achieved as of March 3rd 2011 by Rafa Nadal, and that Federer had already won back in May 2006 (shortly before winning his fourth Wimbledon title).
Player
Date
Age
ATP
Master
Majors
Weeks No 1
STATUS as of 3rd March 2011 comparing both players at 24y, 9m (Nadal’s age on this day)
Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the exhibition match played in a single set played to inaugurate the new Matthew Knight arena in Oregon.
Rafa had to come back from a match point to hold serve in the 10th game and then broke serve for the first time in the match, and held serve again tin he following game to win 7-5.
“This is the nicest arena I have ever played,” said Nadal.
“This was an incredible night for tennis,” said Federer.
In a way, this was Roger’s month – with the 3 new titles (Stockholm, Basel and London ATP Finals) he adds to the list of achievements that Nadal will have to match if he is ever to come close to the current world Number Two.
Adding to that, Roger Federer won the Australian Open in January 2006 at the age of 24y, 5m and 21d, so the result is that he “gains” a little on what Nadal has achieved at the same age.
Below is the summary of results as of 24 years, 5 months and 21 days old – the age Nadal will be on the 14th December 2010.
Status as of 14th December, 2010 comparing both players at 24y, 5m, 21d
Rafa and Roger have played just three times in the last two years.
So given that deficit in Nadal vs Federer encounters, what great news to hear that they will be playing twice in consecutive days before the end of the year!
The occasion is an event organised by Nadal’s “Rafa Nadal Foundation”, which was born in November 2007 out of the desire to create opportunities for children with disabilities and those coming from underprivileged surroundings.
From Rafa’s website:
This is the match dreamed by all tennis tournaments in the world; a final between Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer. Together, they have played some of the most incredible matches in history and on December 22nd -from 6:30pm- at the “Caja Mágica”, Madrid will have the chance to stage a memorable meeting between the two legends in which they will be playing for a lot more than just a victory.
Organized by the Rafa Nadal Foundation, this friendly match aims to raise funds in benefit of children with disabilities and youngsters coming from underprivileged communities. After all, they are the force driving the Rafa Nadal Foundation and they will emerge as the only winners of this event.
“This will be the first time the Foundation will introduce an event of this magnitude to so many people and we really hope we can count with their support in all of our projects. This event is particularly special to me because I count with Rogers’ support. We are friends and we are both very committed to solidarity”, said Rada Nadal, Founder and patron of the Foundation.
“I am very excited to come to Madrid on Dec 22 to support Rafa’s foundation. Both the Zurich event the night before and this event will be a lot of fun. Playing against such a great player like Rafa, while at the same time raising monies for those less fortunate, makes it even more special.”, added Roger Federer.
UPDATE – Matches over, Nadal lost to Melzer 1-6, 6-4, 3-6 and Federer beat Seppi 6-3, 6-4
Having made it past Wawrinka and Isner respectively, Nadal and Federer go into the next round looking thoroughly solid.
And their next opponents should (in theory) not cause them too much trouble in their march towards a long hoped for final rematch. In nine encounters in fact, neither has lost either a set or a match against tomorrow’s foes.
Nadal perhaps has the tougher match, against 13th seed Jurgen Melzer. But the head to head is completely in the Spaniard’s favour (3-0).
Federer would perhaps have expected a harder opponent in Cilic, but the Italian Andreas Seppi had other plans, forcing his seventh encounter with the Swiss champion. He will be hoping to find another gear this time round.
Below are the best links for free TV streams over internet find from our wide scan and evaluation of available sources. We’ll check and update these when the match starts.
Shanghai Masters – Live Tennis on TV Streams (Free)
Rafael Nadal vs Jurgen Melzer, 6pm local time, 10am GMT
Option 1 – Shanghai Masters – Tennis – Live TV – excellent, English
Option 2 – Shanghai Masters – Tennis – Live TV – excellent, English
Roger Federer vs Andreas Seppi, 8pm local time, 12 midday GMT
Option 1 – Shanghai Masters – Tennis – Live TV – excellent, English
Option 2 – Shanghai Masters – Tennis – Live TV – excellent, English
If none of these are working, or to find one that works better, do try the listings at SPVod, Myp2p, RojaDirecta, Atdhe, Fromsport , Channelsurfing.
Also refer to this post for more information on watching TV over the internet, or feel free to leave a comment to report good or bad links (no registration required).
Well they have taken different paths to get there, but the Roger and Rafa show will get back underway tomorrow in the Shanghai Rolex Masters in China.
While Federer chose to rest and work up his own plan to get back into form, Nadal has played Tokyo and Beijing with a semifinal and a championship, as well as a sharply tuned game to show for his efforts.
Rafael Nadal will begin his attack on one of few Masters tournaments to still escape his grip by playing Roger’s countryman Stanislas Wawrinka. It will be a tough match, but history and form are firmly on the side of the Spaniard, who has not dropped a set in winning all six previous encounters.
Should he negotiate his way past Wawrinka, then possible minefields along the way could include Melzer, Davydenko, Murray before a hopeful final with Federer. All in all an easy run, Davydenko is not in form and Rafa would love to make up for some recent losses to the Russian.
Roger Federer’s first match will be against Isner or Kubot, then Cilic, Soderling, and Djokovic before the final. Ouch, that is a lot of good players to confront after a month cold, hope he can build by the time he gets to Soderling and take it from there.
So who is it to be? Fed to draw back level with Nadal on Masters titles (18)? Nadal to claim his eighth title of a sensational year? Or some other player to come through and steal the glory?
Sure is going to be fun finding out:).
Below are the best links for free TV streams over internet find from our wide scan and evaluation of available sources. We’ll check and update these when the match starts.
Shanghai Masters – Live Tennis on TV Streams (Free)
Rafael Nadal vs Stanislas Wawrinka, UPDATE – Match over, Nadal won 6-4, 6-4
Option 1 – Shanghai Masters – Tennis – Live TV – excellent, English
Option 2 – Shanghai Masters – Tennis – Live TV – excellent, English
Roger Federer vs John Isner, UPDATE: Match over, Federer won 6-3, 6-4
Option 1 – Shanghai Masters – Tennis – Live TV – excellent, English
Option 2 – Shanghai Masters – Tennis – Live TV – excellent, English
If none of these are working, or to find one that works better, do try the listings at SPVod, Myp2p, RojaDirecta, Atdhe, Fromsport , Channelsurfing.
Also refer to this post for more information on watching TV over the internet, or feel free to leave a comment to report good or bad links (no registration required).
True, that is if you compare what both had achieved at the age of 24 years, 4 months and 7 days – the age Rafa is today after claiming the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Roger on the other hand can claim the lead in the number of weeks at Number One – he’d already been an incredible 97 weeks at the top when he was Nadal’s age.
Status after Japan Open 2010, comparing both players at 24y, 4m, 7d (Nadal’s age on 10/10/2010)
Why is it that so many fans of Federer resent the success of Nadal, and vice versa?
I wish they could take a leaf out of Roger’s book…
Read the comments that Federer made after losing to Novak Djokovic in the US Open semifinal yesterday.
Asked about Nadal’s chances to complete a career Grand Slam, he answered:
“I won’t watch, but I hope he wins. It’s great for tennis, and it’s great for him at the young age he is to have that opportunity already.
I don’t know when I had my first opportunity in Paris, how old I was, but my guess would be that he’s younger. It doesn’t really matter if he’s younger or not. It’s a matter of can he make it, and chances are good now, especially that Novak is so tired and Rafa has been playing so well.”
Roger says he won’t watch the match:
“I’ve been around tennis for weeks and weeks and weeks right now. Last thing I want to do is watch another tennis match where I’m not a part of.
I will spend some time with my kids and take it easy, maybe go shopping. I don’t know if shops are open here in New York Sundays, but I’m sure something is open. We’ll see.”
It takes a true champion, confident and satisfied with his own personal achievements to not resent the success of others.
And did you spot that his last little remark about shopping?
A subtle reminder that this is the first time in eight years that he has been free on Final’s Sunday in New York .
The draw for the US Open has been made and is now available in full on the the US Open website.
I would say that Rafael Nadal definitely has an easier earlier run than Roger Federer.
Rafa starts in the first four rounds against players he has a good success rate against, though Ljubicic did beat him on the hard courts of Indian Wells earlier this year.
Then he has tougher challenges against Verdasco and Murray before a possible final against Federer. Of course beating Murray and Federer is a massive call, but then this IS the US Open .
Roger Federer on the other hand gets some hard opposition from the third round when he will have to battle it out with two players who beat him in their latest encounters (Hewitt and Soderling) as well as an easier Melzer between, before a semi with Djokovic and hopefully a finals date with Rafa.
Well that is the theory, let the mouthwatering reality ensue!
Potential opponents for our champions are as follows (if all goes according to seed):
1. Rafael Nadal, Spain
2. Roger Federer, Switzerland
3. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
4. Andy Murray, Great Britain
5. Robin Soderling, Sweden
6. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia
7. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic
8. Fernando Verdasco, Spain
9. Andy Roddick, United States
10. David Ferrer, Spain
11. Marin Cilic, Croatia
12. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia
13. Jurgen Melzer, Austria
14. Nicolas Almagro, Spain
15. Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia
16. Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus
17. Gael Monfils, France
18. John Isner, United States
19. Mardy Fish, United States
20. Sam Querrey, United States
21. Albert Montanes, Spain
22. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain
23. Feliciano Lopez, Spain
24. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia
25. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland
26. Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil
27. Fernando Gonzalez, Chile
28. Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic
29. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany
30. Juan Monaco, Argentina
31. David Nalbandian, Argentina
32. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia
Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the exhibition match played in a single set played to inaugurate the new Matthew Knight arena in Oregon.
Rafa and Roger have played just three times in the last two years.
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