
Federer and Nadal played faced off for the first time in March 2004 at the third round of the Miami Masters. Nadal, only 17 years old then and ranked No.34 at the time, surprised the World by winning in straight sets. Their second meeting was one year later, again in Miami, but this time in a best-of-five-set final. Federer recovered from a two-set deficit to win in 5 sets. They played again two months later in the semifinals of the French Open, their first match on clay and as we all remember, Nadal defeated Federer in four sets en route to his first Grand Slam title.