Don't Miss

ENG

Cricket
Football
NDTV Podcast
Formula 1
Tennis
Golf
Badminton
- Kabaddi
- Boxing
- Athletics
- Chess
- Swimming
- Shooting
- Wrestling
- Table tennis
- Othersports
- NFL
- NBA
- NHL
- US Streamers
- MMA
- WWE

Dark / Light mode

Oct 9,2026 05:54 AM IST

Nadal, Federer meet again in French Open final

facebook

twitter

Settings

Change Font Size

A A
Change Language

हिंदी | Hindi
Focus on Story

Select Language

Languages
हिंदी | Hindi

Dark / Light mode

Featured Links
Featured Sports
- Cricket
- Football
- Formula 1
- Tennis
- Hockey
- Golf
- Badminton
More Sports
- Kabaddi
- Boxing
- Athletics
- Chess
- Swimming
- Shooting
- Wrestling
- Table tennis
- Othersports
More from NDTV
- NDTV
- Business
- Hindi
- Movies
- Cricket
- Health
- Food
- Tech
- Auto
- Apps
- Trains

French Open 2011

Scoreboard
News
Photos
Videos
Fixtures
teams
players
Venues
Results
More
- Stats

arrow-down reddit snapchat twitter facebook comments email printer search bell top-nav reddit-fill snapchat-fill twitter-fill facebook-fill share whatsapp-fill bookmark arrow-rgt arrow-next arrow-up refresh close link cog star book zap cricket football tennis formula-1 badminton hockey golf boxing ndtv-n check left-arrow right-arrow

Live Cricket Matches

Cricket Matches
Football Matches
All Matches

India Matches

IPL 2026

Football Matches

Cricket Matches
Football Matches
All Matches

ISL

EPL

All Matches

Cricket Matches
Football Matches
All Matches

India Matches

EPL

Match 11, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier A, 2026 at Bangi, Oct 9, 2026

notify

notify

Kuwait

Bahrain

Fri, Oct 9, 2026 - 6:45 AM IST
Match 10, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier A, 2026 at Kuala Lumpur, Oct 9, 2026

notify

notify

Mongolia

Thailand

Fri, Oct 9, 2026 - 6:45 AM IST
Match 12, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier A, 2026 at Kuala Lumpur, Oct 9, 2026

notify

notify

Qatar

Myanmar

Fri, Oct 9, 2026 - 6:45 AM IST
Match 1, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier B, 2026 at Kuala Lumpur, Oct 8, 2026

China

96 (16.3)

Maldives

100/0 (10.1)

Maldives beat China by 10 wickets
Match 3, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier B, 2026 at Kuala Lumpur, Oct 8, 2026

Malaysia

72/5 (10.0)

Hong Kong, China

140/5 (20.0)

Hong Kong, China beat Malaysia by 7 runs (DLS method)
Match 2, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Sub Regional Qualifier B, 2026 at Bangi, Oct 8, 2026

Saudi Arabia

174/7 (20.0)

Singapore

99/7 (20.0)

Saudi Arabia beat Singapore by 75 runs

Sports Home French Open 2011 News Nadal Federer meet again in French Open final

Story ProgressBack to home

Nadal, Federer meet again in French Open final

There was a time when a Grand Slam final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was a regular occurrence.

Written by Associated Press
Updated: June 05, 2011 10:42 am IST

Read Time: 3 min

Paris:

There was a time when a Grand Slam final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was a regular occurrence.

Over a 12-major span from the 2006 French Open to the 2009 Australian Open, seven title matches were Roger vs. Rafa. No other pair of men in tennis history participated in a total of more than six Slam finals together.

"A lot of important matches for our careers," Nadal said. "A lot of emotions in these kind of matches."

And then, suddenly, it stopped. Federer and Nadal will renew their sublime rivalry Sunday at the French Open, the first time in more than two years they'll decide a Grand Slam championship.

As usual when it comes to Federer and Nadal, there is plenty at stake.

The top-seeded Nadal is 44-1 at Roland Garros and bidding for his sixth French Open championship, which would equal Bjorn Borg's record. Only two days after turning 25, he'll be going for a 10th major title overall. Plus, he needs a victory to prevent Novak Djokovic from replacing him at No. 1 in the ATP ranking.

The third-seeded Federer, meanwhile, seeks to add to his record of 16 Grand Slam trophies, including the 2009 French Open. He could become only the third man to own at least two titles from each of the sport's most important tournaments (he's won six at Wimbledon, five at the U.S. Open, four at the Australian Open).

And then there's this intriguing tidbit: Federer never has beaten Nadal at Roland Garros, going 0-4 - in the 2005 semifinals, and the 2006, 2007 and 2008 finals.

The only time Federer managed to win the French Open, he didn't have to face Nadal. Instead, Federer's straight-set victory in the 2009 final came against Robin Soderling, who stunned Nadal in the fourth round that year (and also happened to knock out Federer in the 2010 quarterfinals).

"It always seems to me that Rafa needs to be in a French Open final to make it special," Federer said after ending Djokovic's 43-match winning streak in the semifinals, "and I got the match I guess I was hoping for."

That's a fascinating statement, considering that Nadal is a player who troubles Federer in ways that no one else ever has. Nadal is 16-8 against Federer overall, including 5-2 in Grand Slam finals. Nadal won their most recent match, on clay in Madrid last month.

In the semifinals against Djokovic, Federer served spectacularly, and he displayed all of the strokes and mental toughness that led many to consider him the greatest tennis player ever.

As 1999 French Open champion Andre Agassi put it Saturday: "I do think that the way Federer played yesterday, he can beat anybody in the world - and probably anybody in the future."

And then Agassi added: "But there's something that he brings out in Nadal."

One part of Nadal's game that's consistently bothered Federer is his heavy-topspin, high-bouncing, left-handed forehand - which can arrive at about shoulder-height on Federer's backhand side.

Nadal also tends to have remarkable success at staving off break points against Federer.

These two players know the ins and outs of each other's games well, and many of their matches have been tight. Three of their past four head-to-head Grand Slam finals went five sets.

The exception, though, was as lopsided as could be: The last time they played at the French Open, in the 2008 final, Nadal won 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.

Given how Federer played against Djokovic, the expectation is that Sunday's final will be competitive - and perhaps much, much more than that.

"It will be one for the ages," Agassi predicted. "Any time you see these two, Nadal and Federer, it's one of the most memorable moments. We've been spoiled. It's an incredible rivalry and I think we'll look back on this as probably one of the best our sport's ever had."

Featured Video Of The Day

CWG 2026 Weightlifting Gold Medallist, Mirabai Chanu Get Hero's Welcome in Delhi

Topics mentioned in this article

Tennis Stanislas Wawrinka Andy Murray Juan Martin del Potro Rafael Nadal Venus Williams Bernard Tomic Novak Djokovic Roger Federer David Ferrer French Open 2011

Get the Latest Cricket, Asian Games 2026, Football , Hockey, Badminton Scores, F1 Results at NDTV Sports. Like Us On Facebook Or Follow Us On Twitter For More Sports Updates. You Can Also Download The NDTV Cricket App For Android Or iOS.