U.S. Open Starts Today! Nadal & Federer, Ready to Resume Rivalry?
August 30th, 2010
Federer and Nadal have the greatest rivalry in sports today, and perhaps the finest in tennis history.
They have played 21 times in 10 different countries, 17 times in a final and seven times in a Grand Slam final. They have met on hard courts, clay courts, grass courts and indoor courts. Once, at an exhibition, they played on a court that was clay on one side and grass on the other. Their 2008 Wimbledon final is still described as the finest spectacle tennis fans have ever seen.
But there is one venue where the titans have not met – the U.S. Open. Last year we almost got one: ”Federer-Nadal Final in the U.S. Open this Sunday Night?” but there is never been a better time for them to play out their legendary rivalry in the Big Apple for the first time.
Only the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in a tournament are guaranteed not to meet before the final, and both Federer and Nadal have dropped to No. 3 at various times this season.
But for the moment, the now-legendary rivals have re-established their stranglehold on the men’s game. After Federer won in Australia, Nadal took over when the clay season began, going undefeated on his beloved red dirt in Paris and following up with a win on the slicker grass courts at Wimbledon.
Federer re-emerged as the tour returned to hard courts a few weeks ago, reaching the final of the Toronto Masters and winning the Cincinnati Masters. He, too, relishes the prospect of a meeting with Nadal in two weeks’ time.
Nadal is healthy; Federer is in form. The chances of their long-awaited meeting in the Big Apple have never been better.
Categories: Entertainment | Tags: Federer, Nadal, tennis, U.S. Open | No Comments
