Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the Dubai final, 2006 on hard court
Nadal would go on to hold the world number 2 ranking for the entire year, while the result ended Federer's record 56 consecutive hard court matches won and was 1 of 5 matches he would lose all year (4 of the losses to Nadal)
Nadal won 71 points, Federer 78
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (56/80) 70%
- 1st serve points won (38/56) 68%
- 2nd serve points won (13/24) 54%
- Aces 1 (not clean)
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (8/80) 10%
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (41/69) 59%
- 1st serve points won (33/41) 80%
- 2nd serve points won (16/28) 57%
- Aces 9
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (19/69) 28%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 13%
- to BH 87%
Federer served...
- to FH 59%
- to BH 41%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 50 (31 FH, 19 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 9 Forced (7 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (50/69) 72%
Federer made...
- 71 (9 FH, 62 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (1 FH, 1 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 5 Forced (1 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (71/79) 90%
Break Points
Nadal 3/5 (4 games)
Federer 3/3
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 17 (6 FH, 5 BH, 3 FHV, 1 BH1/2V, 2 OH)
Federer 24 (12 FH, 2 BH, 7 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Nadal had 8 passes (3 FH, 5 BH)
- FHs - 2 cc and 1 dtl (which popped over the waiting Federer's volley off a net chord)
- BHs - 2 cc and 3 dtl
- 3 non-pass FHs - 2 inside-out (1 return) and 1 cc
- 2 FHVs can reasonably be called OHs and the other was a stop. The BH1/2V was a stop
Federer's FHs - 2 cc, 3 dtl, 3 inside-out (1 pass), 1 longline and 3 dtl/inside-out
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass)
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 34
- 15 Unforced (4 FH, 10 BH, 1 BHV)
- 19 Forced (11 FH, 8 BH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44
Federer 46
- 31 Unforced (16 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV)
- 15 Forced (5 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.7
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nadal was...
- 10/15 (67%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back
Federer was...
- 22/36 (61%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 2nd serve
Match Report
A great match - disregarding importance of match and it being best of 3 of format - possibly the best between the two on hard court. Federer attacks ferociously to sweep the first set, Nadal adjusts subtly thereafter to counter and play is roughly even for the last two sets. Court seems to be on the fast side of medium
Federer starts like a house on fire - slapping down powerful serves (6 aces and 39% unreturned serves), lashing FHs from the back (4 winners) and coming forward to end points (10/12 at net, including 6 volley/OH winners). He loses all of 3 points in 4 service games. Dashingness aside, there are a couple of things that might go unnoticed in his performance
- the surety of his returning. Nadal doesn't serve powerfully - I don't know if he was capable at the time - but Federer is silky with the return. Not particularly aggressive, but facilely putting the ball in play deep and generally neutralizing the servers advantage
- the unforced errors - he makes 8 in play. That's not a large number and more than outdone by his 10 winners and the few errors he forces.... but 10 winners to 8 UEs is not as good as he looks. For all the world, he looks to be playing flawlessly.
This is a situation I've noticed a lot of observers - including the commentators in this match - overlook. As long as a player is winning, they only notice/remember the winners and forget the UEs and heap praise on the player. Federer plays a superb first set, but there are potential cracks in his game
Federer's play in the first is characterized by 1-2, open court/hit forceful shot into it or approach/volley plays. Not much point construction. When necessary, he rallies neutrally for short durations before going for the 1-2s
Couple of shots worth mentioning. He forces Nadal back from net with lovely lob BHV, before finishing the point with a smash. And on set point, he forces the error with a BHOH to a very good Nadal lob
Federer starts the second set in the same vein, but Nadal alters and raises his game. How exactly does he do this?
- he starts returning more consistently (Federer's serving level stays about the same)… denying Fed freebies
- he alters his serving pattern from virtually always to the BH to mixing it up.... this is potentially dangerous as Fed's FH return is even more dangerous than his BH, but ends up working as Fed doesn't seem to be quite as grooved in returning
- he's bossier from the baseline. In the first set, he'd been overly passive (even by his standard) of the 3rd ball, playing it neutrally (a reasonable choice, but not against an on fire Federer). In the second, he starts hitting the third ball with more authority and deeper - not enough to hit winners or force errors, but enough to keep Federer from doing so
- on baseline rallies he's in charge of, he starts coming forward to finish at net
- he starts passing dtl (in first set, he'd almost always with the more basic cc), surprising and frequently getting the better of the at-net Federer
Federer level drops too, but I would primarily credit the changes Nadal made for it. Also, it was unlikely Federer could maintain his first set level indefinitely.
Starting at 4-4, Nadal goes on a 5 game winning run, including 2 breaks. He breaks to love with some excellent passing (helped on 1 point by a foolish approach) and a Fed winner attempt UE then serves out he set
Nadal breaks to open the decider. The highlight of this game for him is when he returns to cc passing, surprising Fed who was obviously expecting dtl and he scarcely moves as the ball goes by. Fed also misses a simple volley and muffs a FH winner attempt when in complete command of the point. Fed breaks back soon afterwards with moderately attacking baseline play. And holds serve to love 3 games in a row
Against the run of play, Nadal breaks in game 9. Fed's been high risk, high reward all night and its time for the dice to come down against him. He misses a hard hit, step in FH (a standard court opener of his) and on break point, misses the corner with a 3rd ball FH, after dragging Nadal out wide with the serve. There was no need for such a good shot to win the point, but that is the way he's played the whole match
Nadal would go on to hold the world number 2 ranking for the entire year, while the result ended Federer's record 56 consecutive hard court matches won and was 1 of 5 matches he would lose all year (4 of the losses to Nadal)
Nadal won 71 points, Federer 78
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (56/80) 70%
- 1st serve points won (38/56) 68%
- 2nd serve points won (13/24) 54%
- Aces 1 (not clean)
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (8/80) 10%
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (41/69) 59%
- 1st serve points won (33/41) 80%
- 2nd serve points won (16/28) 57%
- Aces 9
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (19/69) 28%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 13%
- to BH 87%
Federer served...
- to FH 59%
- to BH 41%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 50 (31 FH, 19 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 9 Forced (7 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (50/69) 72%
Federer made...
- 71 (9 FH, 62 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (1 FH, 1 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 5 Forced (1 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (71/79) 90%
Break Points
Nadal 3/5 (4 games)
Federer 3/3
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 17 (6 FH, 5 BH, 3 FHV, 1 BH1/2V, 2 OH)
Federer 24 (12 FH, 2 BH, 7 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Nadal had 8 passes (3 FH, 5 BH)
- FHs - 2 cc and 1 dtl (which popped over the waiting Federer's volley off a net chord)
- BHs - 2 cc and 3 dtl
- 3 non-pass FHs - 2 inside-out (1 return) and 1 cc
- 2 FHVs can reasonably be called OHs and the other was a stop. The BH1/2V was a stop
Federer's FHs - 2 cc, 3 dtl, 3 inside-out (1 pass), 1 longline and 3 dtl/inside-out
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass)
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 34
- 15 Unforced (4 FH, 10 BH, 1 BHV)
- 19 Forced (11 FH, 8 BH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44
Federer 46
- 31 Unforced (16 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV)
- 15 Forced (5 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.7
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nadal was...
- 10/15 (67%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back
Federer was...
- 22/36 (61%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 2nd serve
Match Report
A great match - disregarding importance of match and it being best of 3 of format - possibly the best between the two on hard court. Federer attacks ferociously to sweep the first set, Nadal adjusts subtly thereafter to counter and play is roughly even for the last two sets. Court seems to be on the fast side of medium
Federer starts like a house on fire - slapping down powerful serves (6 aces and 39% unreturned serves), lashing FHs from the back (4 winners) and coming forward to end points (10/12 at net, including 6 volley/OH winners). He loses all of 3 points in 4 service games. Dashingness aside, there are a couple of things that might go unnoticed in his performance
- the surety of his returning. Nadal doesn't serve powerfully - I don't know if he was capable at the time - but Federer is silky with the return. Not particularly aggressive, but facilely putting the ball in play deep and generally neutralizing the servers advantage
- the unforced errors - he makes 8 in play. That's not a large number and more than outdone by his 10 winners and the few errors he forces.... but 10 winners to 8 UEs is not as good as he looks. For all the world, he looks to be playing flawlessly.
This is a situation I've noticed a lot of observers - including the commentators in this match - overlook. As long as a player is winning, they only notice/remember the winners and forget the UEs and heap praise on the player. Federer plays a superb first set, but there are potential cracks in his game
Federer's play in the first is characterized by 1-2, open court/hit forceful shot into it or approach/volley plays. Not much point construction. When necessary, he rallies neutrally for short durations before going for the 1-2s
Couple of shots worth mentioning. He forces Nadal back from net with lovely lob BHV, before finishing the point with a smash. And on set point, he forces the error with a BHOH to a very good Nadal lob
Federer starts the second set in the same vein, but Nadal alters and raises his game. How exactly does he do this?
- he starts returning more consistently (Federer's serving level stays about the same)… denying Fed freebies
- he alters his serving pattern from virtually always to the BH to mixing it up.... this is potentially dangerous as Fed's FH return is even more dangerous than his BH, but ends up working as Fed doesn't seem to be quite as grooved in returning
- he's bossier from the baseline. In the first set, he'd been overly passive (even by his standard) of the 3rd ball, playing it neutrally (a reasonable choice, but not against an on fire Federer). In the second, he starts hitting the third ball with more authority and deeper - not enough to hit winners or force errors, but enough to keep Federer from doing so
- on baseline rallies he's in charge of, he starts coming forward to finish at net
- he starts passing dtl (in first set, he'd almost always with the more basic cc), surprising and frequently getting the better of the at-net Federer
Federer level drops too, but I would primarily credit the changes Nadal made for it. Also, it was unlikely Federer could maintain his first set level indefinitely.
Starting at 4-4, Nadal goes on a 5 game winning run, including 2 breaks. He breaks to love with some excellent passing (helped on 1 point by a foolish approach) and a Fed winner attempt UE then serves out he set
Nadal breaks to open the decider. The highlight of this game for him is when he returns to cc passing, surprising Fed who was obviously expecting dtl and he scarcely moves as the ball goes by. Fed also misses a simple volley and muffs a FH winner attempt when in complete command of the point. Fed breaks back soon afterwards with moderately attacking baseline play. And holds serve to love 3 games in a row
Against the run of play, Nadal breaks in game 9. Fed's been high risk, high reward all night and its time for the dice to come down against him. He misses a hard hit, step in FH (a standard court opener of his) and on break point, misses the corner with a 3rd ball FH, after dragging Nadal out wide with the serve. There was no need for such a good shot to win the point, but that is the way he's played the whole match
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he was lightning fast and so brutal for Fed
