Roger Federer Before Wimbledon Semifinals: “I Am Going to Attack Nadal”

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will meet once again at the world’s most famous tennis tournament – Wimbledon.

Two of the most successful players when looking at the numbers of Grand Slam trophies fought their way through the quarterfinals and set another spectacle which already draws massive attention.

After all, these two champions played 39 times, and some of those clashes have been epic. For instance, one of the best ever finals here at the All England Club was between them. Back in 2008, Rafa defeated Roger after five sets and almost five hours of play.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet at @Wimbledon for the first time since 2008.

In that last matchup, Nadal won in a five-set thriller that is still the longest men's final in Wimbledon history. pic.twitter.com/C8BMP8ZVhr

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 10, 2019

Nadal received a question from one of the journalists, does he expects something new from his opponent, in terms of tactics and game plan.

“I just expect to play against probably the best player in the history of this surface and know that I have to play my best if I want to have chances to try to be in that final. That’s all,” said Rafa.

Meanwhile, when Federer received a similar question, his answer had the same meaning. There is no point in analyzing tactics, as these two know one another pretty well.

“Well, we have a lot of information on Rafa, and so does he about us, so you can either dive into tactics and all that stuff like mad for two days — or you’re just going to say: ‘You know what? It’s grass-court tennis, and I’m going to come out there and play attacking tennis.'”

This will be their fourth head-to-head match here, and at the moment, Roger has the edge, as he defeated Nadal twice. On the other side, the Spaniard has only one triumph, and that was the above-mentioned one in 2008. Interestingly, they only met in the finals, making this the first clash before the trophy match.

Nadal is coming here after winning his 12th title at Roland Garros, where he defeated FedEx in the semifinals. It was a match in which he dominated, taking rival’s serve six times. But according to Rafa’s words, that victory doesn’t mean anything because Wimbledon is Federer’s favorite tournament.

“It’s a completely different situation. [To] play on grass or play on clay is probably the biggest change in the world of tennis.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldMf2_O0Sxg

Both guys are playing magnificent tennis so far in this tournament. Federer’s serve was broken only three times, Nadal’s one more. All of their opponents have been dismantled pretty quickly. Even though he lost the opening set against Nishikori, Federer trashed the Japanese later on and showed his form.

“I feel good on the court,” Roger explained. “Even if I’m down a set or down a break, no hurry there. I stay calm.”

Before his loss in Paris, Federer defeated Nadal five times in a row, meaning that apart from the clay surface, he has a solution for the great rival. But despite this data, the bookies see Nadal as a slight favorite coming into this event. Still, the last Grand Slam finals before this one ended in Roger’s favor. That was a thrilling match at the Aussie Open in 2017 when Swiss player won after five tough sets.

Whoever wins this battle will play against the better from Novak Djokovic vs. Roberto Bautista Agut clash. This semifinal isn’t that interesting when comparing it to the other one. Djokovic is a massive favorite, but it is very important to say that the world’s No.1 lost the latest two meetings against the Spaniard. And both of them came this year — the first in Doha, and the second at the Miami Masters.

Anyhow, this Friday will be exciting at Wimbledon. It is expected for Djokovic and Bautista Agut to open the day, and that Rafa and Roger play the second match of the program.