The Thirtieth Fedal

FEDAL

Longtime tennis rivals Roger Federer (L), Rafael Nadal (R)

Tennis aficionados, critiques and experts all over the world are in for a treat tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM Atlantic Standard Time: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will clash in the finals for a chance to hoist the Rome Masters trophy.

For Federer, it would be an elusive win on the tricky clay surface and a pretty addition to his unparalleled trophy case, while Nadal seeks to improve his finals record at Rome to 7-1, having won the tournament six times already.

The rivalry between Nadal and Federer is long-standing and not without memories of exceptional matches, such as the Wimbledon finals in 2007 and 2008. Tomorrow will be the 30th edition of the Federer-Nadal (or "Fedal") rivalry, with the scales slightly favoring Nadal, who leads their head to head 19-10.

So who do we thank for the opportunity to watch these two great players in action?

Tomas Berdych

The Czech got off to a bad start, losing serve in the first game after a nice passing shot down the line from Nadal. Rafa would consolidate the break to go up 2-0.

The next test for Tomas came when he found himself 1-3, 15-40 down; he had no response for Rafa's sizzling passes and deep ground-strokes. 1-4. Nadal produced a scintillating backhand return of serve when Berdych was at 1-5, 30-0 but the Czech would hold serve for 2-5. The Spaniard responded by closing out the first set 6-2 with a love hold.

The second set was not very different from the first. Tomas hit a huge serve down the tee to hold serve in the first game. In the very next game, he would see his only break opportunity of the match come and go without conversion as he netted an easy backhand pass.

Two love hold games from Berdych kept him on course as Rafa evened things out at 3-all. At 4-all, Rafa would strike again, breaking Berdych's serve at love for a crucial 5-4 lead.

The first point of the tenth game began with Berdych placing a backhand return way in the deuce corner. Rafa scrambled to get to it, barely getting his racket on it. It seemed to be going out but Tomas had already approached the net so he hit it anyway - a volley to the ad court. Nadal was there with plenty of time to play a fairly deep, defensive backhand but Berdych held his ground and nailed a fiery backhand pass that almost knocked Nadal off his feet.

It wasn't long, however, before Nadal had two match points on his serve and, on the second, Berdych shot the return long and Rafa raised both hands in victory.

So much for doing damage.....Berdych has been Nadal's easiest opponent thus far in the tournament and the match stats prove it: Nadal won 78% of his 1st serve points and 100% of his 2nd serve points. Berdych had less winners and more unforced errors, lost 6 of his 11 net points and failed to convert his only break opportunity. Rafa, on the other hand, won 83% of his net points and converted 3 of  4 break chances. Tomas only has him beat in the aces department today. Click here for more match stats.

Tomas Berdych after beating Novak Djokovic on Friday

Benoit Paire

Benoit began his bid by whipping a couple of speedy cross-court forehands to earn some break chances. Federer quickly snuffed those out with the help of his trusty one-handed backhand. Some clever net play from Paire helped him hold serve in the following game.

Pretty routine service holds without breaks of serve were the case until Roger was 3-all, 15-40 down. He totally mishit a forehand and handed Paire a 4-3 lead. Benoit couldn't consolidate in the next service game though, as Fed returned the favor and reclaimed the break with some impressive play at the net.

Seemingly unfazed, Paire ripped three aces to hold for 5-all.

In the ensuing tiebreak, the two were about evenly matched, but it was Roger who had the first set point at 6-5 and dusted an easy volley to claim the first set 7-6.

Roger got the early break and consolidation in the second set to go up 3-1. Paire could not be said to be lacking in focus or effort as he kept the scoreline down to just the one break difference until 4-5, when Roger was serving for the match.

Three match points in hand, Federer seized the first, forcing Benoit to concede he had the heart but not the experience or skill set to beat the former World #1.

Frenchman Benoit Paire

Stay tuned for finals highlights and commentary tomorrow and don't forget to breathe tennis!