Anticipation Overload for Nadal/Federer Final

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In the last 25 Majors only 3 have been won by someone other than Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

The Last Time Federer-Nadal Played in the USA

The day was April 3, 2005.

The scene was the Tennis Center at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne in Florida, just outside of downtown Miami.

The occasion was the singles final of the NASDAQ-100 Open – the event now known as the Sony Ericsson Open.

The contestants were Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – competing for only the second time in their careers.

Federer was the reigning Wimbledon and US Open champion with four major titles in his closet. Nadal was still two months shy of winning his first major title at the 2005 French Open.

The significance of this match was that it marked the last time that the two modern legends of men’s tennis played a match in the United States.

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Rafael Nadal moved one step closer to a showdown with Roger Federer in the U.S. Open final, advancing to the semifinals with a straight-set victory over fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco...

The only men’s players in the tournament yet to lose a set, Nadal and Federer have met seven times in Grand Slam finals -- at Wimbledon, the French Open and the Australian Open. The only major title they haven’t faced each other for is at the U.S. Open, where the 29-year-old Federer is a five-time champion and Nadal is seeking a win to complete a career Grand Slam.

“For sure Roger is the favorite,” Nadal said. “No one doubts that. I am in semifinals, so I don’t think about the final. I hope to keep playing well and have my chance.”

Nadal, 24, who lost in the U.S. Open semifinals the past two years, has a 7-4 career record against Youzhny, who said he hopes to deny a Nadal-Federer final even though he realizes it’s the match most tennis fans want to see.

“I love to be bad person in this case,” the 12th-seeded Russian said during a news conference.

Semifinal Matches

The men’s semifinals will be played tomorrow...

Nadal entered last night’s match with an 89-0 record when winning the first two sets at one of the four majors. He quickly made it 90-0 by breaking Verdasco’s serve in the first game of the third set, and remains unbeaten in 11 career matches against his countryman.

Youzhny needed four hours to beat Wawrinka. The Russian matched his semifinal appearance at the 2006 U.S. Open by coming back for a 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win against the 25th- seeded Swiss, who upset American Sam Querrey and Briton Andy Murray in the two previous rounds.

“This court adapts very well to his game. It’s going to be very difficult to beat him,” Nadal said of Youzhny. “I have to play aggressive because if I am losing court against him, it’s going to be impossible to come back.”

Federer made the semifinals two days ago with a straight- set win over Robin Soderling, the man who upset him in the quarterfinals of this year’s French Open. Djokovic reached the semifinals for the fourth straight year by defeating Gael Monfils.

Nothing like seeing two champions on a direct beed towards each other