The Day Federer Ended Nadal's 81 Match Winning Streak on Clay! 

My favorite thing about the Federer-Nadal rivalry is that Federer had accumulated the longest running winning streak on grass, and Nadal had the longest running winning streak on clay, with each player's streak being broken by the other.

Many forget that Roger is a phenomenal clay courter. Nadal is the main guy to keep Roger from winning a few French opens.

From 2-6 down to beating prime Nadal 6-0 and winning the match on clay. Pure class.

Bro... Federer ended the winning streak of Sampras on grass, nadals on clay and djokovic 46 win streak in his monster 2011... Thts the GOAT right there!

Nadal holds the record for longest winning streak on clay, which was ended by Federer, and Federer holds the records for longest winning streaks on grass and hard court, both of which were ended by Nadal. Legends.

This is one of Fed's most important matches in his career, Nadal couldn't stop defeating him on clay, and all of a sudden he beats the Spaniard in a Masters final with a bagel. Respect to these two legends.

Prime Fed's forehand was from another universe, the best forehand I've witnessed in tennis history. Sure, there are big hitters like Del Potro with Thor-like monstrous forehands, but Prime Fed's forehands were literally perfect: they had everything, speed, accuracy, power, unbelievable variation from different kinds of angles, I could go on and on....

federer was five times finalist at french open he dominated every surface of tennis.

Wow Roger didn’t only break his clay record, he also fed him a bagel on clay. What a king!

Federer in full flight is untouchable 👍👏

Came back to finish the video and I realized something: the Wii sponsorship on the clock. 2007 and the Wii existed, man I am old 😂

Federer is easily in top 4 clay court player of all time.

Great respect shown by Federer after the win, by not celebrating too much because he knew he had just beaten his greatest rival 6-0 and that might have been humiliating. Even though this was his first win against Nadal on clay and he must have been ecstatic. The respect between the two is real!

Federer's decision-making skills were brilliant .. especially knowing when to approach the net to close the point.

The greatest comeback and beat down ever of Nadal on clay. Even Djokovic never managed to beat him this bad ever on clay. Especially after losing the first set 6-2 just makes it that much more special. And yet they never give Federer enough credit for his mental strength. To comeback and do that he just kept on playing his very best. This was incredible to say the least.

That Federer haircut was one of the best hairstyles I've ever seen on man

15:43 Such a LEGENDARY reaction!

81 matches unbeaten!!! What a BEAST!!🔥🔥

A great match. A great win. Even Uncle Toni was applauding the performance.

81 streak...this is just phenomenal because it happened on more than just one year. Federer ended a great streak here just as Novak's in RG SF in 2011. Not to forget that nadal also ended Federer's grass court win streak too. THis is what you call great rivalry. But in the end even when they loose to each other they accept it like "ok today you were better, i'm eagerly waiting for our next meeting". THis is the trademark of those champions.

Can you imagine someone beat young Nadal on Clay with 6:0 after losing first set ,even Nadal just finished 81 match winning streak on clay.

Remember this vividly. Couldn't believe it at that time. I used to watch the highlights on repeat, just to savour the rare feat. Thanks for the upload.

If I could just go back to the mid 2000's, hit pause, and watch these two play one another in their primes, in an alternate reality where they would never age, fade, & retire. That would be heavenly.

81 straight wins on clay is absurd..Roger got a memorable fantastic win here..!

The toughest thing in tennis is beating Rafa Nadal 6-0 in a set & Roger did it on all 3 surfaces, that is so underrated stat.

Again, Fed is the most elegant style of the tennis world.

Hamburg was one such clay court which was owned by Federer. Given his past record at Hamburg , I had a good feeling about this final contrary to what everyone believed or said. Even in 2008 Federer was steamrolling Nadal until the Spaniard took medical time out to break Federer's momentum. Even after that the match went till 3rd set. Even today Federer holds the record of most no. of titles at Hamburg making him the only player in history to have highest number of titles on every tennis surface, a rare feat indeed.

Federer is from another planet, just amaizing!!!

No one can beat Roger & Rafa’s rivalry. They are phenomenal!!

Amazing that not one of the pundits and not one of those commenting here noticed that Federer had re-vamped his backhand, going to a more eastern grip, which gave him more power and flatter strokes. Here, he mixed some topspin shots but mostly went for it with power. It worked. Go Roger! Few can modify their strokes to this extent in mid-career.

Just passing through on my journey to watch every Federer match.

This is an example of how top players-even nadal-can play exceptionally well and still be defeated convincingly by Federer

13:18 the sound of the strike holy sh... Federer's FH was just pure destruction back then...

One of Roger´s greatest victories; for an aggressive one handed backhand ultra fast court player like Federer and beat Nadal on clay like this was something legendary ... to be able to beat Nadal 16 times with a one hander in a time where the courts were all slowed down to favour the ralliers and still win 20 majors is something that may never be repeated.

Two of the GOAT battling it out. I'm a super Fed fan but I deeply respect the fire & competitiveness of Nadal. Were it were anybody else Rafa would get my cheers.

Love the way he patiently worked Nadal to the corners and then used his GOAT net play. What a master of the game!

It never ceases to give me goosebumps when Federer, who rarely makes a sound on the court, wins a decisive point give a strong "come on". He's a mental warrior.

That hand clasp at the net. Only respect from each other.

So glad to say these two are THE Legends of my time (34). The Yin and Yang of the sport. True representation of sportsmanship. 😤

if federer only have play like this all the time. The last set is the best set ever in tennis history🍓

The main difference I noticed between the sets was in set 1 Federer was playing more like Nadal, and in the others he was playing more of an aggressive style (Nadal's style being typical of clay-court specialists). Beating Nadal playing like Nadal is very difficult to do, but when Federer was playing more to his usual style then he had more success (despite it being perhaps counter-intuitive as it's not the normal way to win on clay)

How much are we missing this rivalry!! Fortunate to have lived in this era of tennis….

What a joy to whatch again these two legends playing each other at such a level. #GOAT

Despues de ver este tennis queda alguna duda de que son los dos mejores de la historia sin discucion?

Thank you for posting these many, important, tributes to the greatest tennis player ever to touch a racquet. There is simply no comparison. If the Kingdom of Tennis shall see someone win 1000 Grand Slams, those who know will still say “This was its finest hour.”

watching these two playing is a treat for eyes

I still remember that day. When Federer beat Nadal, our news paper had a huge photo of Federer. I cut that photo and put it on the wall in our house. That match was very special. After the defeat, Nadal said that he felt better losing to Federer than losing to anyone else.

Really surprising to see how often the length of their shots drop, and they hit it on the serve line.

The 2 greatest players in men’s tennis history.

This match shows how he changed his use of his backhand to script one of his greatest wins. the first set Feds backhand was only pushing the ball and getting it back on the backhand. Classic Nadal. In the next two sets he starts attacking with the backhand interchanging with defense. On attack its potent enough to make Nadal try to switch to his forehand side and as that would be the percentage shot. This always was going to keep fed in the match as he was always trailing. What changed the result was that peRFect Forehand. This match shows why he has one of the greatest forehand in the game if not the greatest. Federer when his forehand is clicking cannot be beaten by Nadal or Djokovic unless his serve and backhand are failing at the same time. Fed was dominating Nadal on the forehand and backhand side on Nadals favorite surface while on one of the greatest streaks in tennis and also not being beaten Fed on clay before this match. Nadal had the greatest advantage in their rivalry at this point and things started changing a bit from here. One of Feds only two wins on clay against Nadal. Only difference being in 2007 he reached final and got beaten by Nadal and in 2009 he got to the final and won and there was no Nadal.

Those were the days ✨💚💚

81 match win streak on one surface is absolutley insane!!!

I am Novak's fan, but I agree that Roger and Rafa are usually more fun to watch. We should be thankful that technology has been advanced enough in the times of the Big Three, and that we and future generations will be able to watch them in years, decades, and even centuries from now.

What a pair of heroes. Fantastic battle.

control aggression A dream of every player

My favorite for ever ROGER FEDERRER THE BEST

This is probably tied for the best clay achievement of Fed's career tbh

On this match we can see Mr Federer was particularly a little more patient and conscious to play the important points…my humble opinion.

world's best players! incredible.

Excellent highlights of a fascinating match. Thanks for posting!

16:22 Love how it's all smiles from Uncle Toni

Love this match. What a match from Fed! Thanks for the upload.

What a great player. Love Fed

13:30 those epic slices by Roger 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

What a match, love both players, phenomenal ❤️👏👏🇦🇺🇦🇺

Phenomenal athletes and competitors, and then along came Novak to make it three, amazing rivalries that we won't ever see again!!

The Greatest Rivalry in tennis history 🙌🏿

I remember this. Previous year (2008) Nadal beat Fed at Wimbledon. So this was like revenge for Federer. Being a Federer fan ( now I love them both) it was really an awesome moment.

Great match. One thing I never noticed until after I played on a clay court, the ball bounces so much higher!

This is interesting because Djokovic has the record several times for consecutive matches won between about 30-50, which is outrageous on all surfaces, but on each surface it is held by the other 2, on clay clearly Nadal, the greatest dominance of a surface and on hard and grass Federer with about 40-60.

Extraordinary match

2 of the best of all time

Cracking the enigma code, solving the mysteries of the universe, beating Nadal on clay...It takes some doing.

This was a joy to watch!

Great match between two absolute greats. Hard to believe that 15 years later Rafa is still French Open champion.

The third set...rafa keeps pressure on rogs backhand and all of a sudden, one forehand from rog can turn everything around...just wow

2 finest gentlemen whom played another great match between them

81 it's incredible!!!!THE GOAT NADAL!

Long live the king

That dap up at the end was crisp

I truly believe that these two guys must reach the same meditative state as a master zen buddhist monk during a match. you can see it in Nadal's eyes when he serves and on Feder's face after he gives one of his 100mph+ returns. Tennis is arguably the sport that requires the most concentration, so voiding your mind of all the clapping, cameras, stress, and score to focus on the current point in play is the advantage that gives them the edge to make them the greatest.

Federer en su epoca dorada!!!

Watching this reminds me of how amazing Fed was on clay. It’s just his bad luck that the greatest clay courter ever played during his prime

Bravo Highlights.. 81 Match Winning Record On Clay Won't Be - Broken.. Anytime Soon if At - All.. Head 2 Head on Clay.. Nadal ( 14 ) - ( 2 )

Federer vs Nadal is easily the greatest rivalry in all sports. I can't think of any other sports with any other players/teams that meet that frequently and exciting.

Handshake at the end reminds me of the Arnold handshake meme lol, also makes me think of how in the fedal matches you ideally want both to win m, and it feels like a shame to see one of them lose, and in the current eras there are matches where you would rather see both players lose and it's a shame that one of them has to win, crazy to think about since rivalries like this don't happen often in sports in general

13:30 WHAT AN EPIC RALLY/VOLLEY/POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fue Una bestia Federer en este partido.

The toughest 6-0 set ever.

Federer also Ended Djokovics 44 Match Win Streak in 2011...Federer was also the Last player to Beat Djokovic before Djokovic Won those 44 Matches in a row...Fed Was GREAT on ALL Surfaces including Clay and Same goes for Djokovic/Nadal...Top 3 were absolutely DOMINANT Year after Year

As much as I like nadal....but this is very satisfying to watch...

F O 06 and F O 11, technically reachable to R F, but sadly he missed many easy chances and squandered the opportunities. If you see the highlights then you will understand. Then R N took over the control and punished him.

i get asthma attack flashbacks listening to nadal's vocalisations.

RF is the GOAT , end of story . But the show must go on!

GOAT

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9:04 underrated volley

Ostras le metió 6-0 en tierra, que crack, ni Djokovic.

6:0 That`s crazy!

Something not get much talked about but Fed is the only person to have bagel Nadal on all three surfaces