Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will be facing each other for the 38th time in their careers and for the fourth time already this season when they battle for the Shanghai title on Sunday.
Our champ is appearing in an ATP World Tour-best ninth final of the season (6-3) and the 111th in his career (75-35).
Date: 15 October 2017
Match time: 4.30 PM local time / 4.30 AM EDT – New York, Montreal / 9.30 AM BST – United Kingdom / 10.30 AM CEST – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / 7.30 PM AEDT – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
According to ATP World Tour, Federer is seeking a second Shanghai crown (2014), whileRafa is vying for his first, having previously finished runner-up in 2009. A victory will almost guarantee that Rafa closes the year with the No. 1 ATP Ranking for the fourth time, as he would own a 2,760-point lead over Federer.
Rafa leads the overall head-to-head series 23-13. Our champ is 14-9 in final meetings and owns a 12-6 advantage in ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (7-4 in finals). It is their first encounter on Asian soil since the 2007 ATP Finals, when the tournament was held in Shanghai. Federer took a straight-set semi-final clash.
Here are all the matches they have played against each other:
| YEAR | EVENT | SURFACE | RND | WINNER | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami FL, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | F | Roger Federer |
63 64 |
| 2017 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells CA, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | R16 | Roger Federer |
62 63 |
| 2017 | Australian Open Australia |
Outdoor Hard | F | Roger Federer |
64 36 61 36 63 |
| 2015 | Basel Switzerland |
Indoor Hard | F | Roger Federer |
63 57 63 |
| 2014 | Australian Open Australia |
Outdoor Hard | SF | Rafael Nadal |
764 63 63 |
| 2013 | ATP Finals Great Britain |
Indoor Hard | SF | Rafael Nadal |
75 63 |
| 2013 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati OH, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | QF | Rafael Nadal |
57 64 63 |
| 2013 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome Italy |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
61 63 |
| 2013 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells CA, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | QF | Rafael Nadal |
64 62 |
| 2012 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells CA, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | SF | Roger Federer |
63 64 |
| 2012 | Australian Open Australia |
Outdoor Hard | SF | Rafael Nadal |
675 62 765 64 |
| 2011 | ATP Finals Great Britain |
Indoor Hard | RR | Roger Federer |
63 60 |
| 2011 | Roland Garros France |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
75 763 57 61 |
| 2011 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid Spain |
Outdoor Clay | SF | Rafael Nadal |
57 61 63 |
| 2011 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami FL, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | SF | Rafael Nadal |
63 62 |
| 2010 | ATP Finals Great Britain |
Indoor Hard | F | Roger Federer |
63 36 61 |
| 2010 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid Spain |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
64 765 |
| 2009 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid Spain |
Outdoor Clay | F | Roger Federer |
64 64 |
| 2009 | Australian Open Australia |
Outdoor Hard | F | Rafael Nadal |
75 36 763 36 62 |
| 2008 | Wimbledon Great Britain |
Outdoor Grass | F | Rafael Nadal |
64 64 675 678 97 |
| 2008 | Roland Garros France |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
61 63 60 |
| 2008 | ATP Masters Series Hamburg Germany |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
75 673 63 |
| 2008 | ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo Monaco |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
75 75 |
| 2007 | Tennis Masters Cup China |
Indoor Hard | SF | Roger Federer |
64 61 |
| 2007 | Wimbledon Great Britain |
Outdoor Grass | F | Roger Federer |
767 46 763 26 62 |
| 2007 | Roland Garros France |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
63 46 63 64 |
| 2007 | ATP Masters Series Hamburg Germany |
Outdoor Clay | F | Roger Federer |
26 62 60 |
| 2007 | ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo Monaco |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
64 64 |
| 2006 | Tennis Masters Cup China |
Indoor Hard | SF | Roger Federer |
64 75 |
| 2006 | Wimbledon Great Britain |
Outdoor Grass | F | Roger Federer |
60 765 672 63 |
| 2006 | Roland Garros France |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
16 61 64 764 |
| 2006 | ATP Masters Series Rome Italy |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
670 765 64 26 765 |
| 2006 | ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo Monaco |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal |
62 672 63 765 |
| 2006 | Dubai U.A.E. |
Outdoor Hard | F | Rafael Nadal |
26 64 64 |
| 2005 | Roland Garros France |
Outdoor Clay | SF | Rafael Nadal |
63 46 64 63 |
| 2005 | ATP Masters Series Miami FL, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | F | Roger Federer |
26 674 765 63 61 |
| 2004 | ATP Masters Series Miami FL, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | R32 | Rafael Nadal |
63 63 |
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
GO RAFA GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) 😉 🙂 🙂 Still time….: ) 🙂 : ) : ) VAMOS SWEETHEART KEEP GOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) XOXOXOXO LOS OF LOVE & HAPPINESS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )
Oh bollocks!! Roger breaks in the 2nd. Cmon rafa you need to find a way to break him!! You can do this
I can’t continue watching now that Fed has broken Rafa in the second set.
Very disappointing performance.
COME ON RAFA, YOU CAN DO THIS , THE CROWD ARE BEHIND YOU.
It’s killing me, the worry about Rafa’s potential injury.
While it’s good that Rafa’s serving very well now, his ground game is falling apart, which feels unreal to watch after all those months and most recently Beijing and Shanghai R2-QF.
Like their IW and Miami matches, Fed’s thriving on sky high confidence.
This is not right…
Sorry dear RNFs, this is pretty much over. No sign of life from Rafa except his serve, which obviously wasn’t enough to help him on those BPs. Hope he won’t get broken any more. It’s painful but mostly worrying to watch.
Until Rafa finally beats Federer and djokovic his self confidence and mental strength will not be complete. There will be holes. There is nothing in his tennis that is not good enough or even better than those 2. But mental strength and self confidence is lacking.
Vamos
Roger must be feeling ultra confident, with his serve working so well. When Rafa gets his racquet on the ball it’s not hurting Roger as the balls are sitting up nicely for him. Plan B Rafa?
Plan B, get well Djoker, Federer’s natural predator:)
Roger just seems unruffled by anything Rafa sends his way, whereas Rafa is scrambling all over the place to return.
Let’s face it, right now Fed’s game is at a higher level than Rafa’s. Rafa must figure something out soonest, or else once again he’ll be holding a serving tray next to Roger.
Rafa keep feeding those loopy balls to Fed in an unexpected serve fest match, which mean no to little windows. This is not right. Rafa isn’t playing true to form AT ALL. I’m dying to learn what happened with his knee. Yep, I notice some of his bad movements these 2 tourneys but didn’t want to mention it.
I’m gutted and can barely watch the match.
It’s a serve fest largely because, thanks to the rain, the roof is closed.
I hope Rafa’s knee is ok. That is the most important thing.
Me too! I think something is wrong with the knee and that may be part of the reason why Rafa looks so dejected.
It is a pity to see that Nadal and his team seem to have found no solution to the renewed 2017 tactics that have brought Federer three victories this year. I expected more of them after the successes of late…
Pls Rafa win somehow
So gutting for Rafa , maybe he just has a mental block when it comes to Roger, but at least he doesn’t run scared of any tournaments like Roger did with the clay season.
Well said Maria
If Federer takes this first set, I’ve still not seen any indications that the second will be any better for Rafa. But hey, hang in there champ!
Does Rafa’s movement seem a bit impaired, or are the balls coming back at him too fast for him to react? Roger also serving HUGE!
Yep Mac, Rafa is much slower in both movement and reaction today. No I’m not discrediting Fed’s great play, but it’s clear Rafa is not right. He’s having to rely on servebotting to survive. So sad to watch.
Just can’t watch! It’s too sad!! This is typical Federer luck. Why why why does this have to happen to Rafa just when he has to play Federer.
Just full of mixed emotions now – sadness, anger, frustration, dejection and helplessness.
The tape on Rafas knee, the serve that would have been an ace but was called out in the first service game, the roof being closed… This sux.
Vamos
Rafa doesn’t look happy at all. He doesn’t look energised and he seems a little overwhelmed by Roger’s quick start. I’m not sure he knows where to put the ball so that it’s out of Roger’s reach. We can only hope that Roger has a let down in form.
Roger cant keep this level up. Cmon rafa
I’m so worried right now. Don’t care about who will wins this match anymore. Rafa clearly has something going on in him. That taped knee :(, the slow movement, the nerves, the sudden drop in level… Why do all these have to happen NOW? Pls Rafa, stay healthy, try to be calm. I know if Rafa feels he can’t compete as well as he could it would be a hard blow for him.
Feeling so dampened now….
Yikes! Federer is winning and the commentators are going on about how many times Federer had beaten Rafa recently. Vamos
His nerves are on display! What a pity!!!! Otherwise he could easily beat Federer.
Cmon Rafa! Breathe!!!!
You CAN do it!!!
VAMOS
OK Rafa done got broken. Gotta get over the jitters and switch ON! You can do it Rafa! Clean up the errors.
OMG..pls God Rafa shud win anyway!!!!