Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer fail to win Masters 1000 title for the first time since..

With 101 finals and 63 titles shared between them, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been the most decorated Masters 1000 players alongside Novak Djokovic. Both Federer and Nadal have won more than 380 Masters 1000 matches, writing the record books many times at this competition and playing some of the most thrilling encounters over the previous two decades. Roger secured the first crown for a famous duo in Hamburg 2002, unable to repeat that in the following season. The Swiss was back on the winning course in 2004, with Nadal joining him in 2005 for an unprecedented Masters 1000 dominance, as they shared eight out of nine titles that season! For 16 seasons (2004-2019), Federer and Nadal would win at least one Masters 1000 title to forge an incredible streak that couldn't be broken even in their worst seasons in 2015 and 2016.

In the next three years, Federer and Nadal bounced back with 11 Masters 1000 trophies, stopping the clock in 2017 to lift five out of nine shields and dominate the rest of the field, like many times in the past. After 16 consecutive seasons with at least one Masters 1000 trophy by their name, Federer and Nadal failed to extend it for another year, unable to lift the crown in the reduced season behind us. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were only three Masters 1000 tournaments (Cincinnati, Rome and Paris), won by Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. Federer couldn't even play at any of those, suffering a knee injury and undergoing two surgeries in February and May that ended his season after only one tournament. On the other hand, Nadal missed the Masters 1000 title for the first time since 2015, playing two events and failing to reach the final.

Between 2004-2019, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had at least one Masters 1000 title.

The Spaniard decided to skip Cincinnati, practicing on clay and competing in Rome for the first time since February, hoping to defend the title won in 2019. Instead of that, Nadal suffered a 6-2, 7-5 quarter-final loss to Diego Schwartzman in two hours and three minutes, missing his best chance to secure the Masters 1000 trophy in this strange season. Nadal served at only 43%, which wasn't enough to keep him safe, getting broken five times and not taking at least a set, experiencing the 40th ATP loss on clay in a career. Seeking the first title at the Paris Masters 1000 event, Rafa scored the 1000th ATP victory in the second round against Feliciano Lopez. The Spaniard reached the semi-final despite not playing at his best before experiencing a 6-4, 7-5 loss to Alexander Zverev, failing to win the Masters 1000 crown only for the second time since 2005.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/39Irc1P