⏪ Wayback Wednesday: Reliving the Roger and Rafa’s 2006 Roman epic
Before there was Sincaraz, there was Fedal. And before Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played what is arguably the greatest tennis match ever in the 2008 Wimbledon final, they contested another beautiful battle in Rome.
At the beginning of their rivalry, as you knew something special was happening—that was wild. Prakash Amritraj
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Rafa’s 6–7 (0), 7–6 (5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6 (5) victory over Federer at the Foro Italico, in which the 19-year-old Spaniard saved two championship points, and won the final four points of the deciing tiebreaker, for an improbable and incredible triumph.
“It’s still burned into my mind, to be honest,” says Mark Petchey, “the forehand miss on match point for Roger.”
You can watch the entire match here, on the Tennis Channel app (subscription required), and we’ll have more about this iconic showdown later in the week on TENNIS.com.
