First time, long time—Nadal and Federer "return" to Shanghai for final

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First time, long time—Nadal and Federer "return" to Shanghai for final

The two have a history in Shanghai, if not the Shanghai Masters.

ByEd McGrogan

Published Oct 14, 2017

Despite a 14-23 record against Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer has held a decisive edge against his longtime rival this season. The Swiss is 3-0 against the Spaniard in 2017, with an opportunity to make it 4-0 in Sunday's final of the Shanghai Masters.

Federer and Nadal have never collided at this tournament, but they've played in Shanghai twice before. The first time was in 2006, when the ATP's year-end championships (then called the Tennis Masters Cup) was held in the Chinese city. The two squared off in the semis. It went Federer's way, 6-4, 7-5, and featured one of the more dramatic match points of this storied rivalry:

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A year later, the two titans of tennis again met in the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup. And again, it went Federer's way, this time by the most uncompetitive score of 6-4, 6-1:

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These victories weren't just rare wins for Federer in the early stages of their rivalry; they were extremely rare straight-sets wins.

Advantage, Federer, who is 5-0 against Nadal when they've played in Shanghai or in 2017? Or advantage Nadal, who comes into Sunday's match on a 16-game winning streak? Something's got to give.

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First time, long time—Nadal and Federer "return" to Shanghai for final

First time, long time—Nadal and Federer "return" to Shanghai for final

Today on Tennis Channel's Court Report—Dominic Thiem clinches a spot in the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals:

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