Rafael Nadal sits in Roger Federer's box during Indian Wells 2004

Back in March 2004, the 17-year-old Rafael Nadal stunned the newly-promoted world no. 1 Roger Federer in straight sets in Miami, showing his full potential and catching eyes of the entire tennis world. Still, their first match overall came a couple of days earlier in Indian Wells when Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo defeated Roger Federer and Yves Allegro in three sets to reach the quarter-final, with future legends exchanging some nice words at the net and in the locker room. One thing led to another and Roger invited Rafa to attend his quarter-final singles match against Juan Ignacio Chela and the Spaniard was more than willing to accept that, joining Mirka in Roger's box and acknowledging the performance of the Swiss who toppled the Argentine 6-2, 6-1 in an hour and three minutes.

Federer lost serve once and stole almost 60% of the return points, breaking Chela five times from nine chances to control the scoreboard and race into the last four for the first time in the desert. They exchanged breaks in the early stage of the clash and Roger grabbed another one in the fifth game following a forehand error from Juan Ignacio, firing a return winner for one more break at 5-2 that sealed the set for him. World no. 1 scored another break in the second game of the second set, racing into a 5-0 advantage and moving over the top with a hold at 15 in game seven to book the place into the semis, staying on the course for the first Indian Wells title that he would claim over Tim Henman. Getting some first-row tips, Nadal knew how to challenge tired Federer in Miami, ousting him 6-3, 6-3 in 70 minutes to kick off one of the greatest rivalries in the sport with a well-deserved victory, just like he did in the doubles in Indian Wells. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2TW6Olo