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Rafa Nadal Rome

“At the beginning of our rivalry, anything could happen” Nadal recalls watershed moment against Federer


Nadal and Federer have played each other 40 times but the Rome final of 2006 was one of the most memorable for the Spanish King of Clay

To commemorate his 1000th ATP victory Rafa Nadal sat down to remember some of the key moments in his career and the 5 set thriller against Roger Federer in the final of the 2006 Rome Masters was a perfect example of one of those matches.

Nadal recalls the day, “Of course it was important, my second title in Rome was super emotional. He had match points and anything could have happened. It was at the beginning of our rivalry. It had been one of those close matches where anything could happen. It seemed like for a moment I had an advantage, then him. It’s a great memory because always the crowd have been fantastic in Rome”.

This week Nadal is playing at the Paris Indoors in an attempt to win not only his 1000th ATP match, which he has achieved last night against fellow spaniard Feliciano Lopez, but also to win a title that has so far eluded him in his long and illustrious career. He’s the tournament favourite with no Djokovic or Federer in the draw this week.


Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.