When Rafael Nadal punished Roger Federer for accusing Uncle Toni of coaching in a Finals
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Toni Nadal, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have shared possibly one of the biggest rivalries in the history of tennis. Nadal was the perfect challenger to Federer who had by then separated himself from the rest of the Tour and it took Nadal just a couple of years to give Roger a run for his money in his own backyard while becoming the master in claycourt events.
While the relationship between Nadal and Federer has improved over the years with the term ‘Fedal’ coined for them, the relationship did have sour moments early in their respective careers. For Nadal, Roger always remained the challenge he wanted to better and as for the Swiss Maestro, Rafa’s rise was a threat to his ranking and records that he had been creating rather easily before Nadal rose to the occasion.
Roger Federer had complained to the chair umpires over Toni Nadal’s coaching
Till 2008, quite a few Masters events on the ATP Tour had the Best-of-five format, similar to Grand Slams, to determine the winner. While the 5-setters are always a thriller, one such was played between Rafa and Roger at the 2006 Rome Masters. Nadal was the defending champion and was going for his second consecutive title while Federer was playing in his second finals having lost the finals in 2003 to Félix Mantilla in straight-sets.
Coming to the finals, Roger had suffered two defeats to Rafa in Dubai and Monte-Carlo and with the match on Clay, Rafa was looking for a third consecutive win against the World No. 1 for over 2 years now. Federer won the first set 7-6(0) and Rafa was quick to balance the match with a 7-6(5) win and then won the third set 6-4 to take the lead which added to Roger’s frustration.
In his anger, Federer accused Rafa’s uncle and coach Toni Nadal of coaching from the stands and said, “Is that all right, Toni?” before complaining to the officials by mocking them and saying, “don’t keep a close enough eye on him.” The anger probably helped Roger as he won the 4th set 2-6 but failed to capitalise on the twin championship points in the fifth set and consecutive errors in the tiebreak saw Nadal defeat him. The match is often marked as the day Nadal and Federer’s rivalry heated the most and continued for subsequent seasons.
In what was the best season ever for Roger as he finished 92-5 that year reaching finals of 16 events from the 17 he participated in. He would go on to lose to Rafa once again in the finals of the 2006 French Open but avenged it by defeating him in the 2006 Wimbledon later the same year as he won 3 majors that year except for the French Open. Nadal beat Roger 4 times in the season with his 5th loss of the season coming at hands of Andy Murray, but nevertheless, the remark about Toni proved too costly for the Swiss Maestro.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)