By Chris Oddo                                                                      Photo Credit: Tony Chang

 (March 17, 2012)—There was Roger Federer, painfully close to taking out his arch nemesis Rafael Nadal, having to sit down and think about it for a while.

 

Not exactly what he wanted, but he used the time productively.
 

Federer came out of his chair to nail an ace after a brief rain delay, sealing his 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Spaniard in windy, sometimes wet conditions at the BNP Paribas Open.
 

With the win Federer now leads the hardcourt head-to-head with Nadal at 6-5.
 

“It felt like ten,” said Federer of the less-than-five minute rain delay.
 

Federer’s victory over Nadal is his tenth in 28 tries, and it marks the first time he has beaten his rival on an outdoor hard court since 2005.
 

“It was a great match under tough conditions,” said Federer. “Man I couldn’t be more happy. Against Rafa it’s always special – he’s a great champion.”
 

Unlike their last meeting (won by Nadal in four sets at the 2012 Australian Open in January), Nadal had trouble dominating points with his forehand. Refusing to deviate from the script, the world No. 2 continued to serve to the Federer backhand even though Federer seemed to have an answer every time.
 

It’s a gameplan that’s worked before for Nadal, but Federer was just too good today.
 

Federer took the early lead in the match, using a wide-angle topspin backhand to draw the Nadal error for his first break in the second game. After Nadal broke back in the fifth game, Federer struck the decisive blow in the eighth, earning a break point on a backhand cross-court winner, then goading the backhand error on the next point to go up 5-3.
 

Federer held to love, closing out the set with a dropshot that Nadal didn’t even bother to chase.
 

He then broke Nadal to love in the third game of the second set; and again in the seventh to claim the double-break lead.
 

Nadal, finally finding the range on his forehand, answered back with an authoritative break of serve. He then tried to strike again in Federer’s last service game, but it wasn’t meant to be.
 

Nadal got to 15-30 but the Swiss won the last three points to finish the win.
 

A happy Federer will seek to tie Nadal tomorrow when he goes for his 19^th career Masters title.