Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal once again put on a classic on Wimbledon Centre Court on Friday evening with Federer winning 7-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 and booking a place in the final against Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
Federer and Nadal may be one of the greatest rivalries in sport history and the pair once again entertained the masses on a warm Friday in south London.
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The pair came into the match with the Swiss as number two seed and the Spaniard number three seed at Wimbledon, something that had angered Nadal ahead of the tournament, and the first set proved why they were so closely matched.
Both held serves six times each with only Federer having the chance to break but, despite Nadal earning the first mini break, the eight time Wimbledon champion won the tie break 7-3.
However Nadal, coming to SW19 fresh from winning the French Open once again this year, dominated the second set, breaking his opponent twice, to win it 6-1.
At 37-years-old it would have been understandable if that drained the energy from Federer but instead he came roaring back into the match.
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The Swiss star broke in the third set to make it 3-1 and never looked back from there, securing the set 6-3 and meaning that Nadal would have to take it to a fifth set if he wanted to make his sixth final on the grass court Grand Slam.
In the fourth set it was once again an early break in serve which seemed like it would have the deciding factor with Federer breaking Nadal to make it 2-1. The pair both held quite easily until Nadal served to save the match at 5-3.
The 12 time French Open champion had to batter away two match points but eventually managed to hold and then looked like he would break at 30-40 in the very next game.
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Federer battled back though and after taking it to deuce two excellent volleys gave him advantage and the first match point. An incredible rally, in which neither man gave an inch, brought it back to deuce with a brilliant forehand.
A 'Fed' ace gave the 20 time Grand Slam winner another match point but again Nadal levelled, this time with a brilliant passing shot, only for Federer to put himself back on the brink of the final with a serve-volley winner. The match finally came to an end after Nadal went long.
Despite a historic rivalry over the years, made most famous by their 2008 final, dubbed by many as the greatest match of all time, the pair hadn't met at Wimbledon since that phenomenal match 11 years ago.
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Federer will face Novak Djokovic on Sunday in the final after the Serbian beat Roberta Bautista Agut in straight sets in the first semi-final on Friday.
Featured Image Credit:Topics:ย Tennis news, Rafael Nadal, roger federer, Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic
