On Sunday, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will meet for the third time this season and the 37th overall in a storied rivalry that began in Miami – Rafa won a third-round match in 2004 and Federer defeated Rafa in the final in 2005.
Date: April 2, 2017
Match time: 1 PM local time / 1 PM EDT – New York, Montreal / 6 PM BST – United Kingdom / 7 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / Monday 3 AM AEDT – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa:
I think we played a great match in Australian Open final, but then last week he beat me easier than I want. He’s an unbelievable player. It’s a big challenge for me. For me, the most important thing is to be in the final. I’m gonna try my best. (via Tennis Now)
Roger on playing Rafa:
It feels like old times, playing each other every weekend.
He should have Miami titles and he doesn’t. It’s going to be super-special to be playing him in the finals.
Rafa leads the head-to-head meetings 23-13 (tied 9-9 on hard courts) but Federer has won the past three meetings for the first time in the rivalry. Rafa is 14-8 in final meetings and owns a 12-5 advantage in ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (7-3 in finals).
Rafa has only lost one set en route to his fifth Miami final (2005, 2008, 2011, 2014). This is his 13th appearance in Miami, the most attempts without winning a title. He is trying to become the first Spanish man to win the title. Spaniards are 0-7 in finals. He enters with a 19-4 match record in 2017, the most wins on the ATP World Tour.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Source: ATP World Tour
Go Rafa Go! You will be holding up the Cup this time ⏳👑😀😀🐂 Be a Spanish Bull-fighter on the Tennis Court! I will be praying for you. God bless you. Vamos Rafa. Your Aussie Abuela Nan Shirley. xxx
Nick should really have won, but decided to ‘give’ the match away to Fed!
Yes, I had predicted that it would be a NICK-DAL final with Nick winning in the end. Up until yesterday’s match, my predictions were always accurate to the T 100%!
Nevertheless, the good news is that Rafa does have a chance tomorrow against good, old Roger. I see Rafa winning in 3 tight sets tomorrow: 4 – 6, 6-4, 7-6
But this can only happen if Rafa can play without fear and fully exploit Roger’s weaknesses.
However, if Rafa allows the fear factor to come into his game, then Roger will once again prevail, most likely in 2 sets: 3-6, 4-6
EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON WHICH RAFA WILL SHOW UP TOMORROW!
But as always, we’d see………………..hmmnn
What is Roger’s weakness? Other than that one Rolex commercial where he gazes at giant pictures at himself while the voiceover describes “greatness?”
He still shanks a surprising number of balls for a guy who can’t lose.
Good luck dear rafaaaaaaaa….
Your beat rojer….
First Miami title 😉😀😀😀😀😀😀😉😉😉😉✌✌✌💪💪💪💪✌✌✌✌✌👍👍👍😀😀😀😀😉😀
Va4favre – I think you mean he has won IW
Hi Susie, Sorry I was unclear. I meant to say that Roger had won Miami in the past. I believe he has won the double IW-Miami at least twice. Therefore he does not have the added pressure of winning it for first time like Rafa has.
Ahh many happy returns for tomorrow rafalite. Ok as it is your birthday the day of the final, you are forgiven if you have to miss it. Enjoy the day!
Thanks Susie! Let’s hope the match is a birthday apple pie, with melting vanilla ice cream on top. (Still on the fruit theme.)
I don’t know how I’ll be able to resist watching, because I’ll be home at that time. But if it’s grim for Rafa, like IW, I’ll not watch. I didn’t even really watch 5th set AO final, but I listened from the hallway. Kind of like choosing not look at an accident on the road.
But Maybe we’re in for a surprise. Tennis is like that. Rafa needs to dig very deep. It was bad enough watching Djok shut down Rafa so often, now Fed?
Unacceptable!
Happy Birthday, Rafalite. 💐🎁.🎉 🎂🎉🎁💐
Hope Rafa will give you a fantastic birthday present. 😊😊
There are so many moving comments here. I do think Roger is vulnerable, but my worry is that he is playing without pressure. He has already exceeded his return expectations and is full of confidence. He has also won Miami. I worry that Rafa wants the Miami title so badly that he will be a bundle of nerves. I agree with the comments on how terrible the fans were, but Rafa will have more support. These players are used to Davis Cup matches with rowdy fans.
Win or loose the signs are good going into the clay season, which I think he will really prevail. I hope he wins tomorrow but I am more pleased with his level of play and his great start to 2017. After all his problems in the last few seasons I am so impressed with his determination and drive to get better, hats off to him, especially after all he has done in the game. Good luck Sunday….. Vamos Rafa!!
As a engaged spectator I am going to sit back and enjoy the match as it unfolds. It’s great to see how the Rafa/Roger rivalry is back. What amazes me is the top 4 guys; Roger, then Rafa, then Novak then Andy are always bidding for the top tier titles! Who knows maybe we’ll see this tag line play out yet again!
Rafa, I must say is having a spectacular hard-court season! This is his 3rd final! That’s a break-through unto itself. I look forward to the next chapter of this long (not going anywhere) rivalry!
I see the fans here are concerned Roger defeated Rafa 3 in a row. But I am not concerned.
Roger winning in Basel, his hometown was a no-brainer. The AO open final was spectacular and very tight but I do wish Rafa was afforded the same 2-day rest period as Roger but that’s sport (as Novak always saids) Indian wells, Rafa didn’t seem to play his usual brand of agressive tennis, maybe just an off day. I am not making excuses it’s just my observation. Then again, this is the beauty of a rivalry. There are always shifts of dominance at times.
I just want to add, I really felt badly for Kyrigios believe it or not. I know he’s a polarizing figure but he is only 21 and he’s not yet there with containing his emotions and frustrations on the court.
The crowd was so rude to him especially when he had the match on his racquet in the 3rd set tie-break. He definitely got rattled by the mean-spirited crowd. Roger always has that way of killing you with his charm, calm, resolve and confidence. Nick even let Roger have a point on a Roger serve that went long. He should have challenged that call but he saw how perturbed Roger got when the chair umpire called serve out and then over-ruled it but it turned out to be long anyway. One thing I learned, you never give Roger any benefit of the doubt. Roger doesn’t need any help from his opponent. .I don’t mean any dis-respect to Roger, a great champion, but he also can be diplomatically ruthless. Nick has been playing amazing tennis but wait til he finds the right coach down the road. He’ll be lethal! .
Best wishes, Rafa, Vamos!!!
Rafa had done better in 2009, won AO, reached final at Rotterdam (losing to Murray) and won IW. He had 3525 points from Doha to Miami that year, the best from him so far.
His 2014 was also good, won at Doha, final at AO and Miami, won at Rio on clay too; having 2595 points. If Rafa wins this 2017 Miami then this will be his second best start of a season, behind his 2009. I think he can do it!
Luckystar – that’s a very, very interesting and well informed perspective.
I’m not going to make a prediction–because tennis is the most unpredictable thing in the world–next to US elections–but I do have serious fears for Rafa.
The positive aspect is how close Fed keeps coming to getting beat, Berd and Nick both Df’d at crucial point in the final TB to lose. Some of that was the crowd, I truly beleive, and i think that
‘s really disgusting, the effect they’ve been able to have. Rafa won’t have that problem, because he is loved more than Nick and berd, and will have some support, if not as much as Fed (as we are constantly being reminded by Fed-obsessed commies).
Also, Fed was almost beat by Rafa AO and Waw too.
But!!!
Rafa will have to play almost perfectly to do it. There’s no room for even two shanked FH putaways. I beleive he still has the game to beat Fed–we saw it AO on the fastest HC on the circuit–but the question will be can he find his very very best?
Tomorrow’s my birthday and normally a match like this would be a present, but I may have to not watch if Rafa is getting beat badly (as in IW) to not ruin my day.
C’mon Rafa enough is enough! Beat him.
The courts at AO actually remained the same but the ball this year was lighter and faster. Plus the Rod Laver court has been always a bit faster than the rest of the courts there and the match was played at nigh which suit Fed perfectly. Apparently Fed was playing great and credit to him, but it’s also true the conditions and one extra day rest did help him.
Have a lovely, happy Birthday anyway, Rafalite. I’ve just said it in my last comment but still want to say it again. 🙂
💐🎁🎉🎂🎉🎁💐
Hi Vy, thanks for the Bday greeting. I hope Rafa can make it a good one!
Re AO court speed, I saw a graphic on espn showing all major and 1000 tourn HC speeds–and AO was fastest. It had been made faster this year, they said to prevent things like 6 hour finals.
Night is better for Fed, so that’s one good thing about today.
I was really worried about the extra day rest, given Rafa’s gruelling match against Dimi, and I’m certain that was a factor, even though Rafa downplayed it in the post-match presser (he had to! it would have been seen as making excuses if he pointed it out).
OK, here’s hoping for a Rafa win!
I am praying for a Rafa win tomorrow. Fed is getting very lucky the past couple days and just willing himself to win. He’s beaten Rafa twice this season and surely the odds should be correcting them self. Federer got his revenge for AO2009 this year so surely Rafa can get his revenge here for that lost Miami final to Federer in 05. It will take a lot of effort. And like Vy, I will be very emotionally invested in this match. If Rafa were to lose I might go off tennis for a bit.
Rafa, you have topped the proverb, “Two heads are better than one.” You have the advantage of four heads; yours, Toni’s, Frances’, and Carlos’. As you, I am thrilled you are in the final. Let’s shut down Roger. I know you can do it.
I hope this is where you show Roger that you are not willing to let him even out the score.
RAFA ROCKS
The beauty of tennis at this rarefied level-whoever wants it more will find a way to
to win, whether it is greater mentality or stronger physicality on that day. Roger knows how to use Krygios to enhance interest in tennis. Smashed racquets make
great photo ops-it must bemuse him to derail K’s concentration. What a privilege
to witness Roger and Rafael encore 😍👏💪 but we are stunned when they artre
both on their game. Can’t cheer, almost cannot watch–😜😱–nirvana❣️
Very well said, CanaDiana. But must you watch especially after saying those words of wisdom. We’ll be holding your hands, wiping your tears if you need us to. 😛
Playing two very tight three-setters back to back at his not favourite tournament, in a tricky condition, after winning just abt everything worth mentioning in the history book for the last 2.5 months, must take its toll.
No matter how fresh both mentally and physically he was at the beginning of the year, the middle is already on the way. At some point something’s gotta give.
The thing is, though Fed has never been the strongest on the tour, his stamina has always been incredibly good, up there with the best of the best. Plus his body type usually ages really well with enough exercise. People tend to (like to) underestimate that because they’re often so occupied with their feeling good and self-justified at being a Fed fan.
To be fair, who doesn’t like being a fan of the Goat anyway? Of Natural Talent? Of Atistry? Of everything you could find the most abstract words to describe in the glossary of a ballet book, because it’s so Beautiful?
And of course who can blame you for not being able to see right in front of you, side by side, Fed’s calves have always been just as big as Rafa’s or of anyone else on the tour, if not even a bit more like in AO17; not including some big guys like Tsonga because his looks like a baby’s calves compared to Fedal’s?
Fed is “PerFect” for many reasons. But it’s always his Talent and Talent alone gets the credit.
Well, I guess what I mean to say is, on paper Fed should be more tired than Rafa coming into the final. But do yourself a favour and don’t count on it. At least before you see it with your own eye, in the actual match.
Count on Rafa and his team to come up with an effective strategy, plus one or two backups.
And of course, on Rafa’s racquet, his will, his heart.
His nerve too.
This is a BIG BIG match. Might as well be the very last Fedal because after Miami, the already volatile current tour is more likely to get another shakeup or two.
It’s about bloody time. If history tells you anything, expect the unexpected in 2017.
I’m not gonna lie, I’m highly emotionally invested in this match. Don’t be surprised if I vaporate from RNF if Fed prevails again this time, dear RNF friends. Of course I’ll be back for MC, missing you and feeling like I’ll never be the same person in the process, but I’ll somehow manage.
Rafa fans UNITED! 👊👊👊👊
As always, good luck and Vamos Rafa. We will be right behind you.
🍀🍀🎾🎾💪💪🏆🏆🇪🇸🇪🇸
Sorry, this is to response to luckystar’s post below. This part:
luckystar
“Yes, I think Rafa can win the final. Fed looked a bit fatigued, made more errors than usual..”
Good point VY about the “very last Fedal” due to (in my mind) the absence of Murray and Djok.
I don’t think it will be the vdery last (it could be though) but we’ve certainly had a quick run of 3 Fedals which is very unusual.
If Djok returns at full force he will the one to quell Fed on HC or grass. Then Fed will lose some confidence and Rafa will be able to manage him better.
Watching tennis closely for so long I see how deeply connected the confidence levels and ultimate fates of the Big 4 are on each other. Murray never would have gotten to #1 without a falling off of level from Djok, and an absence due to injury on the part of Fed and Rafa.
Rafa’s ended Fed’s invincibility once, but neither man is the same player now they were then. Fed is certainly better; Rafa–maybe as good but not better. Anyway, it seems Fed corrected the weakness that Rafa was able to exploit. The interesting question is how to play Fed now. If you’re Rafa, not Kyrgios.
i am a nadal fan but i am affraid he will be runner up tomorrow and here is why:
– rafa is playing predictable against federer attacking on the backhand not aware that federer backhand has improved a lot
– rafa is staying 20 meters behind the baseline by doing that he is not putting depth in his groundstrokes and returns
– rafa is affraid to use the forehand or backhand down the line
– rafa returns are too short very easy for federer to put the ball away
– its also a mental game. rafa lost three matches in a row against federer that sticks with you
– federer return are unbelievable
that is why i hoped that krygios would have won against federer. Thanks to that awful federer supporter it did not happen
You don’t think Rafa will/can adjust to counter Roger’s improved backhand? If he serves as strategically and effectively as he did against Fognini, he will have a much better chance against Roger tomorrow. It seems like Rafa likes to return with a bigger swing than a lot of other players, so staying far behind the baseline gives him extra time and space to return the serve. He does try to vary his returning positions during the match.
YB, sure Rafa served very well in Fognini match but by all means Fognini is not the best returner on the tour either.
Fed is another story though. Plus he’s playing the most aggressive tennis.
Rafa needs to serve really smart for the final. His serve used to trouble Fed so much in the past even though he normally eats 130mph bombs from huge servers for breakfast. Not any more.
The game has change. Not only Rafa’s topspin has not declined, it’s just simply not as destructive as it used to be in today games even if it hadn’t. Players adjusted to that. And technology certainly helps.
Not that Rafa only won because of his topspin. But we can’t deny it’s the identity of his game.
But Rafa is working on that. We can only hope it doesn’t take him too long…
It’s time to beat Federer again and it’s time for your first title in Miami. You can do it! Always with you. Vamos Rafa <3
I so want Rafa to win, but win or lose , he will try his best. As Rafa fans, let’s also enjoy his wonderful start to 2017. He is in yet another final. His losses were to players who were at the top of their game that day. Only the IW loss was Rafa not competing well. Rafa has risen to number 5 and will be very strong in the upcoming clay tournaments. Let’s appreciate how much happier we are than the last two plus years. Miami would be the icing on the cake!!
Hi Teresa, Maria ,( Siberia) predicted that Nick would win Roger in the semi final , well obviously that was wrong , so hopefully the prediction of Rafa being runner up again is just as off
Thanks guys – here’s to hoping:)
Nick should really have won, but decided to ‘give’ the match away to Fed!
Yes, I had predicted that it would be a NICK-DAL final with Nick winning in the end. Up until yesterday’s match, my predictions were accurate to the T!
Nevertheless, the good news is that Rafa does have a chance tomorrow against good, old Roger. I see Rafa winning in 3 tight sets tomorrow: 4 – 6, 6-4, 7-6
But this can only happen if Rafa can play without fear and fully exploit Roger’s weaknesses.
However, if Rafa allows the fear factor to come into his game, then Roger will once again prevail, most likely in 2 sets: 3-6, 4-6
EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON WHICH RAFA WILL SHOW UP TOMORROW!
But as always, we’d see………………..hmmnn
In other words either Rafa or Roger will win
Vamos rafa 👍👍👍👍👍la victoire pr notre champion 👑👑👑👑👑
Valls rafa 👍👍👍👍👍👌👌👌👌👌😜😘😘😘👑👑❤
I haven’t come across any Rafa fans that think he can win tomorrow:( Any optimists out there? Even a clairvoyant?
Yes, I think Rafa can win the final. Fed looked a bit fatigued, made more errors than usual. Of course Rafa has to up his level quite a lot, plays like at the AO, not at IW.
Fed will try to take away time from Rafa, so Rafa can’t just stay back to play counter punch tennis; he should hit hard, moves up to the court and attacks Fed’s FH more. He has to move Fed from side to side, something Agut did so well, and then attacks Fed’s FH when Fed is camping at his BH side so often these days. Rafa needs his FH DTL should he want to attack Fed’s FH and serving to Fed’s FH for a change instead of predictably serving to Fed’s BH when Fed is all ready for it.
Agree, luckystar. Rafa needs to be proactive, taking the initative and not letting Fed dictate since the matchup now is in favour of him PLUS his mentality is right up there with the best I’ve seen him. That combination is LETHAL.
Basically in IW Fed was able to play his game comfortly while Rafa was just responding and getting overwhelmed. The crowd of course played their part too.
I’m sure he must have learned from that match and Fed’s recent matches.
Plus Fed 2.0 is still Fed. Rafa was taken aback, but still knows him well.
He sounded really determined at the post-match presser after the loss.
I think the match is about 60-40 in Fed’s favour. Not sth like 20-80 where Rafa has almost NO chance of beating Fed.
Teresa, can? Yes. Will? No/not sure.
I’m about in the middle. Feeling like going into the fight myself lol.
I think he can. But I don’t assume he will.
Sooner or later he gets Fed. I want to see what new tactics he may try–the old
hit high spin to the BH” seems to no longer work.
Down to the new racquet I presume and some fire power lost from Rafa. They should take a closer look at those strings:) (Joking)
I think Rafa has a reasonable chance to win so long as he plays as he did against Fognini, also against Kohlshreiber when he kept his calm, and his confidence, to win the next two sets after losing the first to love.
Certainly Roger is playing terrific tennis but he has also had some luck on his side. When he played both Bautista-Agut and Berdych he was playing injured players and yet he still had to struggle to win ,whereas Rafa had fully fit and strong players to contend with all the way.
I also believe Kygrios could have won in his match against Roger had that rude Federer fan not shouted out just as Nick was about to serve,
So, yes, I feel Rafa has a good chance to win to-morrow , but if he loses he is still having a great start to 2017.
Yes Beverley, he can win. He is happy to be reaching finals, but like any competitor, he wants the trophy. I said the best is yet to come and I hope Miami is one of his “bests” for 2017.
RAFA ROCKS