Tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will square off at Wimbledon on Friday for the first time since their epic final in 2008.
The two modern-day greats both came through their quarter-finals on Wednesday to set up a 40th head-to-head encounter and a fourth at SW19.
Federer beat Kei Nishikori 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 while Nadal came through 5-7, 2-6, 2-6 against Sam Querrey to set up their mouth-watering semi-final on Friday.
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The highlight of their epic rivalry came 11 years ago when Nadal ended Federer's domination at SW19 with a thrilling five-set victory in the final.
Nadal won his first Wimbledon title with a 9-7 win in the final set late on Sunday night on a rocking Centre Court in one of the greatest matches the sport has ever seen.
And 15 years after their first ever meeting in Miami, Federer, 37, and Nadal, 33, will do battle again with a place in the Wimbledon final on the line.
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Nadal has won 24 of their 39 clashes to date and is two behind Federer's record haul of 20 grand slam titles on 18.
Federer beat Nadal in the 2006 and 2007 Wimbledon finals before the Spaniard exacted his revenge in that unforgettable clash in 2008.
The winner of Friday's clash will face a final showdown against either Novak Djokovic or Roberto Bautista Agut.
The men's draw has been building towards a Federer-Nadal semi-final ever since the Spaniard complained about being demoted to No 3 seed behind the Swiss.
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Nadal is the world No 2, but Wimbledon officials bumped eight-time champion Federer up to second seed ahead of him.
Before the tournament, Nadal said: "Obviously it would be better to be two than three but if they think I have to be three I will accept three and fight to win the matches I have to win.
"Having said that, the only thing that doesn't seem right about this issue is that it is only Wimbledon that does it. If they all did it, it would seem more correct.
"It's not only about my particular case. There have been many occasions when players have played well all year on all surfaces but Wimbledon does not respect the ranking they have earned."
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Federer hit back: "There's not much we the players can add to the story, other than we just deal with it.
"At the end of the day, if you want to win the tournament, you got to go through all the players that are in front of you. And now that the draw is out, we move on.
"But we knew that the system was in place. I guess the system is, you know, it rewards you for playing a lot on the grass, well on grass."
Who wins their semi-final showdown on Friday?
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Rafael Nadal, roger federer, Wimbledon