Roger Federer has told Rafael Nadal it will be a ‘joy’ to face off against his old foe on the grass of Wimbledon and will not tweak his approach for facing the Spaniard.
The Swiss star came through a tough test against Kei Nishikori in his quarter-final on Wednesday, winning 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4 to set up a clash with Nadal, who powered past Sam Querrey in straight sets.
They will face off at Wimbledon, and on grass, for the first time since their famous final back in 2008 and Federer already can’t wait.
‘We have a lot of information on Rafa, as does he on us. So you can dive in to the tactics like mad for two days or you say it’s grass court tennis so I’m going to come out and play my tennis,’ Federer told the BBC after his win.
‘People always hype it up. It was a joy to play against Rafa on his court at the French Open and it would be if I have to play him here at Wimbledon. I’d be very excited to play him here.’
Federer won six straight matches – all on hard courts – against Nadal prior to his defeat against the Spaniard at Roland Garros earlier this year, where he lost in straight sets in the semi-final.
He had also lost his last meeting with Nishikori and was in trouble early on, losing the first set, but recovered to claim a comprehensive victory.
On his performance, the world No.3 added: ‘It was very difficult. It was a brutal beginning, Kei came out smashing winners, I just tried to stay with him and tried to turn it around in the first set. But Kei was the better player.
‘I was able to start a normal match at one set all and then I protected my serve really well until the end. I played a good service game against a good return player.’
