Federer, Nadal To Resume Rivalry In Madrid Final

© Getty ImagesRoger Federer is chasing his 63rd tour-level title.

Roger Federer will face Rafael Nadal in the final of the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open after defeating Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 Saturday evening in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament.

It will be the first time since the Madrid final last year that the two have played and Federer will hope for a repeat of the straight-sets victory over his Spanish rival that saw him cut Nadal’s head-to-head lead to 13-7.

Federer vs. Nadal: Head-to-Head

“I’m finding my form again really nicely here in Madrid so it’s one of those finals you never know,” said Federer. “It’s quick conditions; I was able to come up with the right plays at the right time last year; I will definitely have to do something similar again tomorrow to come through. So it’s interesting and plus we haven’t played in a year so maybe some things have been forgotten and other things you realise very quickly what is better to do and what not. I’m excited.

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“After playing him last year, you figure maybe the French, Wimbledon or down the stretch in America we would face off again but it just never ended up happening, even though his ranking briefly slipped and we could have been in the semis section,” said Federer, reflecting on the year that has passed without him meeting Nadal. “Either it was me or him; we just didn't show up in that final. It’s not always easy; it shows how incredible the past few years have been. I think it’s exciting for tennis and for us obviously.”

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Federer and Nadal have met in 11 clay-court tour-level finals, with Federer winning just twice. In addition to his victory over Nadal in Madrid’s first clay-court final at the Caja Magica last year, the Basel native also prevailed when the pair clashed in the 2007 Hamburg title match.

Looking ahead to the clash, beaten semi-finalist Ferrer remarked: “I think it’s a really even match-up. On clay Rafa is the favourite, but given the altitude and the fact that he serves so well, Roger is also very dangerous.”

Federer was made to work hard for his place in his 87th tour-level final, as Ferrer produced the same devastating form that took him to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final in Rome two weeks ago (l. to Nadal).

After the Spaniard had leveled the match at one-set-all though - just the third set he had taken off Federer in 10 meetings - the Swiss responded with a decisive service break in the eighth game of the third set to seal victory in two hours and five minutes.

“I didn’t think it was all that close,” admitted Ferrer. “He had many more opportunities than I did. He had more options against my serve, but I couldn’t do much against his. He served very well throughout the whole match. Roger has a lot of resources; he hung in there and in the end, in the break game, he played well and changed paces and that was the key.”

“He makes you work extremely hard and that’s why he’s been so successful on clay. He doesn’t miss much and he fights like crazy and it works well,” praised Federer. “He’s really improved a lot over the past couple of years. So I knew the danger and I’m extremely happy that I prevailed.”

In Sunday’s final, Federer will look to deny Nadal a record-breaking 18th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown and, in turn, draw level with title-leaders Nadal and Andre Agassi by winning his 17th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy. Should he win, he would also overtake match-wins leader Andre Agassi (209) with 210 victories in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events.

The 28-year-old Swiss is chasing his 63rd tour-level title, which would draw him level with Bjorn Borg for No. 5 on the all-time Open Era titles list. He has won in Madrid twice before, also triumphing in 2006 (d. Gonzalez) in addition to his victory last year.