Battle of Surfaces

The Battle of Surfaces was a men's tennis exhibition match that was held on May 2, 2007,[1] between Roger Federer, the then top-ranked men's singles player, and Rafael Nadal, the then World No. 2 in men's singles. The match was played in the capital city of Nadal's home island, Palma de Mallorca, in front of a home crowd at Palma Arena. Nadal won 7–5, 4–6, 7–6(12–10).[2]

The Battle of Surfaces
Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer
Set 1 23
Rafael Nadal 7 4712
Roger Federer 5 6610
Date2 May 2007
LocationPalma Arena
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
World rankingsRafael Nadal: 2
Roger Federer: 1

The match

The match was played on a unique court with a clay surface on one side of the net and grass on the other. The court cost $1.63 million to make and took 19 days to prepare. At the time, Federer had won 48 straight matches on grass courts, going 5 straight years undefeated on grass, while Nadal had 72 straight wins on clay, going 3 straight years undefeated on clay.[3][4]

Before the match, Federer said,

We are both looking forward to this absolutely new event. The idea really appeals to me as we both dominate one of the surfaces. Rafa holds the record of 72 victories in series on clay and I have not been defeated on grass since 48 matches. It'll be fun to find out what it's like to play on a court with mixed surfaces! And it ought to be interesting to see who chooses the better tactic. People have been talking about this event for quite a while. Now it's coming up pretty soon already and I like the fact that the stadium - which is very nice, by the way - is located on Majorca, Rafa's home. He has been to Basel, after all, and now I've got the opportunity to play at his place for once.[5]

See also

References
  1. Marcus Christenson (May 3, 2007). "Nadal claims Federer scalp in battle of the surfaces". The Guardian. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  2. Simon Baskett (May 2, 2007). "Nadal beats Federer to win battle of surfaces". Reuters. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  3. "Nadal Wins the "Battle of Surfaces"". The Dong-a Ilbo. May 4, 2007. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  4. "Nadal wins 'clay-grass' thriller". BBC Sport. May 2, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  5. "The Battle of Surfaces". Roger Federer official website. April 14, 2007. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2010.


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