ROGER FEDERER VS. RAFAEL NADAL IN THE 2017 MIAMI OPEN TENNIS FINAL – “WOW” WHAT A DREAM MATCH! ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS

Written by: Staff on 31st March 2017

ROGER FEDERER VS. RAFAEL NADAL IN THE 2017 MIAMI OPEN TENNIS FINAL - "WOW" WHAT A DREAM MATCH! ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS

epa05881986 Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts after defeating Nick Kyrgios of Australia during a semifinal round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 31 March 2017. Federer will face Rafael Nadal of Spain in the men's singles finals on 02 April. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER |

It is Federer vs. Nadal once again after two all-time greats take different paths to Miami final

By Ricky Dimon

It will be Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal–again–in the Miami Open final on Sunday afternoon.

Federer and Nadal will be facing each other for the 37th time in their careers, for the third time already this season, and for the second time with the Miami title at stake. The two all-time greats squared off in the final of this prestigious event back in 2005–their second-ever meeting overall–and Federer won in five sets.

This one almost didn’t happen.

One day after outlasting Tomas Berdych 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(6) while saving two match points, Federer survived Nick Kyrgios 7-6(9), 6-7(9), 7-6(5) in a semifinal thriller that lasted three hours and 10 minutes on Friday night.

The 35-year-old Swiss escaped in the first set after Kyrgios failed to serve it out at 5-4. He failed to convert either of two match points in the second and found himself in a hole in the third-set tiebreaker. But Federer recovered from a mini-break deficit and a double-fault by the Australian at 6-6 proved to be decisive. Federer promptly delivered an unreturnable serve at 7-6 to clinch victory.

Nadal was the first into Sunday’s final after he defeated Fabio Fognini 6-1, 7-5 in one hour and 30 minutes. The sixth-ranked Spaniard has been especially impressive on serve since getting bageled by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first set of their third-round showdown, and his match against Fognini was no exception. Nadal dropped only nine points in 10 service games and never faced a break point.

“I think I played a very good first set,” Nadal assessed. “He had mistakes, obviously. [The second was] not about losing the concentration, it [was] about not being lucky at the beginning. [I should have had] a break at the beginning of the second. I had so many chances.

“But when you don’t convert opportunities you’re in trouble, and that’s what happened.”

But it was merely trouble and nothing else for Nadal–far short of disaster. Fognini cracked with the pressure on at 5-5, as an errant drop-shot followed by a double-fault on break point handed Nadal a crucial lead. The No. 5 seed had no problem serving out the match one game later.

Nadal likely spent the rest of the day on the couch watching his potential final opponents battle for more than three hours. Now he knows chapter 37 with his greatest rival is here.