By Chris Oddo | Monday October 16, 2017
What's the secret to Roger Federer's success against Rafael Nadal in 2017? Roger Federer has several opinions.
Photo Source: Lintao Zhang/Getty
Rafael Nadal has reeled off three five-match winning streaks over Roger Federer in the past (2005-06, 2008-09 and 2013-14), but not until yesterday had the Swiss ever taken five in a row from his longtime rival.
More: Federer Defeats Nadal for Shanghai Title
After Federer’s 6-4, 6-3 victory in Sunday's Shanghai Rolex Masters final that has changed. Federer’s newfound ability to power past Nadal may be one of the biggest reasons that the 36-year-old has had such a magnificent season. It could have turned out differently. Teetering on the edge and down a break in the fifth set against Nadal in the Australian Open final this January, Federer summoned his very best tennis to win five games on the trot and take the title. Federer’s victory snapped a six-match losing streak against Nadal at majors and, of course, ended his Grand Slam drought at just under five years.
The confidence gained from winning Grand Slam title No.18 surely provided some of the impetus that got Federer over the hill at Wimbledon, where he won his eighth title at the All England Club and claimed his 19th major title without dropping a set.
We didn’t know it then but Federer’s triumph would mark the beginning of a sea change in tennis’s most iconic rivalry. An unexpected twist, an end to the sway that Rafa has always held over Federer. If there was one big asterisk next to Federer’s name in the GOAT argument it was always about his inability to beat Nadal.
Not just on clay, where Federer is 2-13 against the Spaniard (and 0-5 at Roland Garros), but on other surfaces as well. Before Federer began this five-match run against Nadal his lifetime record against the Spaniard stood at a woeful 10-23. Now, after a banner year, Federer has inched to a much more respectable 15-23. He also improved to 13-10 against Nadal on surfaces other than clay (11-9 on hard, 2-1 on grass).
So, how has Federer done it? It’s not as if Nadal has been in lame form this year. The Spaniard is the reigning World No.1 and the ATP win leader--by all accounts he's been amazing, and on all surfaces.
There are several reasons, says Federer. And his racquet manufacturer, Wilson, will be happy to hear the first.
"I get easier power ever since I switched to the bigger racquet, the RF97,” he said. “I feel I'm connecting better on the backhand and I'm serving good, and consistently. Before I had to slice more just because the racquet was good for the slice, and it was good for the coming over, but I would always shank too many balls, you know. So I think it was hard for me to consistently just keep on attacking with the backhand.”
Everybody knows that the backhand has been the key to Federer’s turnaround against Nadal this season. Federer says it’s second nature to come over the drive and hit with authority these days.
“Today it seems almost not a problem anymore to do it,” he said. “Plus I have done it in many other matches other than Rafa, you know. I return usually coming over and sometimes using the slice; whereas before it always a slice normally and sometimes coming over.”
The psychological element has also played a role, says Federer. The scar tissue of the past has finally started to dissolve.
“I think it's also easier to play Rafa these days, and I just think I'm not so scarred like maybe I have been in the past, not that I was horribly scarred in any way, but I did lose against him sometimes, a lot of the times especially on the clay courts.”
Federer says that all those clay beatdowns at the hands of Nadal took their toll. He carried a lack of belief with him onto other surfaces. One of the best decisions Federer made this season may have been to skip the clay season and avoid giving any momentum back to Nadal.
“I do believe I still lost that Wimbledon finals in '08 because of the French Open beatdown he gave me,” Federer said. “It just affected my first two sets when I played him at Wimbledon. Down 6-4, 6-4, and okay, I got lucky to win the third, but maybe if I don't lose both first sets it might be a different match. But, yeah, I think I have also played him well. Clearly avoiding him— not playing him on clay has helped. So I'm able to stay on the hard courts or on faster courts against him, but I have been playing very well when I have faced off against him.”
At this stage of the rivalry it’s pretty clear that Nadal has held the upper hand over Federer, but the Swiss has done a lot to inject some equilibrium into a longtime lopsided rivalry. Better late than never.
Federer will head to Basel next to see if he can take a longshot run at the ATP’s year-end No.1 ranking. He’s behind by nearly 2,000 points but with Nadal having some trouble with his right knee, there is still a sliver of hope.
Overtaking Nadal in the all-time head-to-head? Well, that ship has sailed says Federer.
“It’s not going to happen,” he said. “We don’t have enough years left on tour.”