Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer met in 24 finals during their legendary rivalry.
Federer won their first at the 2005 Miami Open. Battling back from two sets down, Federer defeated Nadal, 2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1 in Florida, having lost to the Spaniard 12 months earlier in the third round of the same event.
But who won their 24th and ‘final’ final at the 2017 Shanghai Masters? Federer and Nadal met with the title on the line nine years ago in front of a packed crowd in China’s largest city.
Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal in their last ATP final at the Shanghai Masters
Nadal looked like the favourite heading into the Shanghai Masters final. The Spaniard had won 17 consecutive matches and was the top seed in China. Federer, on the other hand, had won his last four matches against Nadal and beat his rival in the Miami Open final earlier in the year.
Roger Federer’s route to the 2017 Shanghai Masters final
- 2R [WIN] vs Diego Schwartzman, 7-6, 6-4
- 3R [WIN] vs Alexandr Dolgopolov, 6-4, 6-2
- QF [WIN] vs Richard Gasquet, 7-5, 6-4
- SF [WIN] vs Juan Martin del Potro, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Rafael Nadal’s route to the 2017 Shanghai Masters final
- 2R [WIN] vs Jared Donaldson, 6-2, 6-1
- 3R [WIN] vs Fabio Fognini, 6-3, 6-1
- QF [WIN] vs Grigor Dimitrov, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3
- SF [WIN] vs Marin Cilic, 7-5, 7-6
Fans hoped for a classic between two of the sport’s greatest players, but the reality was that Federer dominated from start to finish. The Swiss star didn’t face a break point, dominating the Spaniard, 6-4, 6-3, to claim his 27th Masters 1000 title.
2017 Shanghai Masters final – Match stats
| Stats | Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer |
| Aces | 4 | 10 |
| Double faults | 0 | 0 |
| 1st Serve % | 74% | 68% |
| Win % on 1st Serve | 63% | 83% |
| Win % on 2nd Serve | 50% | 79% |
| Break points | 0/0 | 3/7 |
| Total points won | 44 | 61 |
Federer was understandably delighted with his performance and the result. During his post-match press conference, he was asked for his thoughts on the Nadal match-up after winning his fifth consecutive match against his rival.
“I think I’m maybe serving consistently better, you know. I get easier power ever since I switched to the bigger racquet, the RF97. I feel I’m connecting better on the backhand, and I’m serving good, and that consistently,” he said.
“Before, I had to slice more just because the racquet was good for the slice, and it was good for 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.
Is it time to end best-of-five-set matches in tennis?
How would you solve the issue of tennis matches lasting too long?
“Today it seems almost not a problem anymore to do it. 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 was always a slice normally and sometimes coming over.
“So because I have gotten used to returning that way, I think it’s also easier to play Rafa these days, and I just think I’m not so scared like maybe I have been in the past, not that I was horribly scared in any way, but I did lose against him sometimes, a lot of the time, especially on the clay courts. I do believe I still lost that Wimbledon final in ’08 because of the French Open beatdown he gave me. 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. The Australian Open, I also had to get a little lucky, to be quite honest, because it was on the edge there for a while.”
What Rafael Nadal said about Roger Federer after losing their last ATP final
“He played very fast, and he played well. I don’t know how many unforced errors he made, but I don’t remember. He played so well, I think. Yeah, I could do maybe some things better, but that’s it. No, no, he just played too good. That’s my point of view. So congrats to him,” said Nadal during his post-match press conference.
“For this year, Roger did great in all the events that he played, so it looks like he saved his body; he did the right things, yes, probably, yes, but at the same time, anything could happen. And the confidence is going up and down sometimes. You can lose a couple of matches and changes everything, but of course he did unbelievable. He played a very high level of tennis during the whole season, so well done to him, and happy to see him play well.”
Federer and Nadal never played another final after the 2017 Shanghai Masters, but they did meet three more times on the ATP Tour. Federer won their 2019 Indian Wells semi-final; Nadal won their 2019 French Open semi-final, before Federer won when they met one last time at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, sealing his place in the final.
