Roger Federer has won five matches in a row against Rafael Nadal. If things go against each other on sand, however, he is not very optimistic.
Roger Federer has been on the road to success since his final victory in Basel in 2015 against Rafael Nadal: four victories followed in Melbourne, Indian Wells, Miami and Shanghai in 2017. The Swiss has revamped his poor record against Nadal from 10:23 to 15:23.
While Federer is leading on the hard court, grass and in the hall, the balance on sand speaks a clear language for Nadal: 13:2 stands for the “Bull from Manacor” – and Federer is realist enough to know that the sand world could not necessarily look better for him in 2018 either.
Many experts believe that the backhand in particular has recently contributed to Federer’s success against Nadal. Federer took them earlier in the field, played more offensively, also thanks to his larger racquet. But on sand? I’m not sure how much my improved backhand, as it’s called, would help me against Rafa on sand” Nadal still moves best of all on the red ashes, he himself wasn’t so convinced of it – and hasn’t played on sand for too long.
Whether he would play on sand again in 2018 did not depend on Nadal and Djokovic being fit, but on what he wanted to do, how he would stay injury-free and motivated. Or in other words, the mood he was in. It’s as simple as that. But still: “I would like to play against Rafa auf Sand over three sets, would like to see what would happen now. But there’s no guarantee I’ll have a better chance than before. I think he’s still the one to beat on the sand – and he’ll probably go down in history as the greatest player of all time.”
After the tournament in Miami, Federer will decide about his 2018 sand season. He will certainly not be competing in Monte Carlo – at this time he is on the road for his foundation in Africa.