In 2009, the Madrid Masters 1000 event moved from October to May and from indoor hard court to clay court, bringing together the world’s best players at Caja Magica. In the first edition, Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal in the title match, with the Spaniard taking revenge a year later to lift the trophy in front of home fans.
In 2011, Roger and Rafa met in the semi-finals, battling to determine who would face world leader Novak Djokovic. After two hours and 36 minutes, Nadal won 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 for Madrid’s third consecutive final, bouncing back from a tight opening game and leaving Roger behind with a steady pace in the second and third sets.
It was their 24th meeting on the Tour and the 16th triumph for the Spaniard, who conquered 11 of the 13 clay court matches against the Swiss. Landing 81% of the first serve, Nadal pushed back nine out of 11 break opportunities, securing five out of 12 opportunities to control the scoreboard in the second part of the game and propel himself over the finish line. .
Rafa had more winners than unforced errors, taming his shots well and gaining a huge advantage in the shortest range of up to four hits to forge the victory. Federer was in contact in the more advanced rallies, but his initial shot and the first groundstroke after dropping him completely, especially in the second set.
Trying to keep the points on his racquet, Roger had nearly 40 winners and over 40 unforced errors, unable to defend his backhand the way he would like and losing momentum after a reliable performance in Game 1.
Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the 2011 Madrid Open semifinals.
Nadal took a break in the first game after a loose loss from Switzerland and landed an ace to bring the next game home and confirm an early advantage.
The Spaniard survived three break points in Game 4, closing it off with a volley winner to stay ahead and wasting a break chance that could have put him 4-1 ahead. Instead, Roger forced Rafa’s mistake in Game 8 to remove the break and defended two break opportunities at 5-5 with powerful forehands.
The Swiss found angles with his backhand in the next game to pause after a forehand on the winning line and secured the opener 7-5 after 64 minutes of challenge. Rafa opened the second set with a break thanks to a forehand winner and fought off a break point with a serve winner minutes later to consolidate the advantage and open a 2-0 lead.
The Spaniard had the upper hand in those moments, delivering another successful second leg that propelled him further ahead and shooting three winners in the closing stages of the next service game to clear two break points and establish a lead of 4-0.
Federer missed a chance in Game 6 before spraying a backhand error on serve to suffer a break and hand the set to Rafa, who had the momentum on his side after those in command 6-1. Roger pulverized a backhand error to lose a break chance in the third game of the final set, suffered a break in the next game and gave Nadal a 4-1 advantage after a love grab.
Serving the 5-3 victory, Rafa played against a break point after an incredible rally and the winner of Roger’s drop shot. The Swiss scored a comeback to squander a huge opportunity before Nadal sealed the deal two points later for the third consecutive final in Madrid and 28th at Masters 1000 overall level, still at 25.
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