For the 17th time, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will play against each other in a final, this time in Madrid. Federer scored a rare 6-4 6-4 win against Nadal in last year's final, after the Spaniard played a draining 4-hour 3-set thriller against Novak Djokovic. Nadal and Federer have competed together in 7 Grand Slam finals, with Nadal winning 5 to Federer's 2, although Federer has won 16 major titles overall, to Nadal's 6. Overall,Nadal has won 13 of their 20 matches, 11 of which have been on clay (and Nadal has won 9 of those matches).Federer has not been playing well on clay this year, having lost his very first clay court match of the year to Ernests Gulbis (who he beat in the quarterfinal in Madrid) while Nadal is undefeated. I would be surprised if Federer even wins a set tomorrow. However, it should be helpful for Federer's chance of repeating as French Open champion to have to at least face Nadal in a non-major tournament to calibrate his game before Roland Garros which starts Monday May 23rd in Paris.
Nadal's place in the final assures his return to the World #2 position. If he wins on Sunday, he will have 18 Masters series titles, 2 more than Federer and 1 more than Andre Agassi, the all-time leader.
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