Federer vs Nalbandian -- Madrid 2006 Highlights HD

[thegreatNEb]

The last refuge of Fed's almighty dominance is of course, the indoor hard court arena. 6 tour finals, Paris and Madrid Masters, 5 Basel 500s, 2 Rotterdam 500s.

I'm still not entirely sure why Fed hasn't put more effort into winning Shanghai Masters. It would be a good place to gain some much needed points and possibly get some needed wins over Nadal/Murray//Djoko. If he had played a few rounds in 2009 he would have kept his #1 spot long enough to break the record. that blasted record! one week!

[delicsasa88]

fed from 2006 in madrid agains nalbandian is much better than fed from 2007

[pitusek381]

god second set was insane from federer

[Stylaz21]

Good old times: a minimum of errors and non-stop winners from fed.

[cbee69]

wow, i wish i can see federer play like this again against the top players, so smooth, consistent and confident. I really miss this Federer. Also to be able to win someone like Nalbandian, and produce shots that are seen here. Amazing..........

[luirot9]

Exactly some poster thought I was trying to underplay Nalbandian's wins in '07 but the difference in clear and yes Nalbandian was the better player in '07 but that was not Feds best, nevertheless Roger was playing quite well even then.

[JL6293]

What honestly caused Nalbandian to lost the last set 6-0? I'm not completely sure, but seems to me he lacked a bit of fitness in the end. Getting wrong-footed and poor footwork (by the first set standards anyways) are some signs.

[Ryan81M]

@JL6293

I don't think fitness is an issue with Nalbandian, I really don't. If it were, how do you explain his 5 set victory against Federer in Shanghai 2005? A guy who lacks fitness would not be able to sustain great ball striking for over 4 1/2 hours.

It is not surprising that he can beat players like Nalbandian with a bagel. This wasn't the first time. He also did it in TMC '03.

[JL6293]

Commentators all agree that Nalbandian's fitness is one of the big things holding him back from being a top player (before he got hip surgery, now IDK). I'm not gonna say that the 2005 5set victory isn't a good case to prove me wrong, but you gotta admit that Nalbandian slowed down a bit in the second set. Maybe he lacked the intensity he had in the 1st set?

[Ryan81M]

@JL6293

Yeah it was probably just a matter of intensity. He may have put a lot of energy into the first set and had a lull whereas Federer continued to apply the pressure relentlessly.

However, I do think it was not all down to Nalbandian having a bad set. Federer was playing breathtaking tennis throughout the match.

With Nalbandian, I think the biggest problem was the fact that in a lot of matches he couldn't keep the intensity up.

[Ryan81M]

@JL6293

When he does play against the best, he seems to play generally much better than when he plays against nobodies, for example.

Maybe he just lacks motivation when he plays a guy who is ranked 174 in the world, for example. Nalbandian has a great 5 set career record which seems to put the theory that he is unfit in great doubt. Some people have naturally 'heavy' bones and I think Nalbandian is one of them.

[JL6293]

Nalbandian has a great 5 set record? That's surprise. What is it btw?

[Ryan81M]

@JL6293

I don't know for sure but if you look up his match activity on the atp website, I'm sure you could find out.

I know in 2005 he beat Murray at Wimby from being 2 sets down. I think he also beat Gonzalez in 5 at the USO of that year

[Zozim57]

Yes, but you got to keep in mind that there was a rain delay during that game and Nalbandian had his best ranking at the beginning of 2006 so he probably had some of his best ranking there. I would assume he was fitter during that period.

[Ryan81M]

@Zozim57

Sorry, which match are you referring to?

The TMC match in 2003?

[Zozim57]

@Ryan81M

I was talking about the TMC 2005 match.

[Ryan81M]

@Zozim57

I don't think there was a rain delay because it was played on an indoor court, wasn't it?

[jzrnsk]

i love nalbandian

[asdfuogh]

man, i love it when federer spots a chance and just.. friggin skips backwards and spanks a forehand. it's.. godly.

[jac0bk1m]

i like the camera angle of this match.

[rogeristhelord]

3: 25

my god

what a shot

[strojzabelu]

i don't know, i prefer the one at 3.26-3.27 :))

[rogeristhelord]

i really dont get you

[andrewblastoff]

Fed wasn't moving at that time he was simply gliding smoothly from one corner to another, his footwork was flawless and his backhand was such a confident weapon. I wonder if we ever see him again winning in such a style one or two grand slams or the young guns (Nadal Djoko Murray) gonna dominate in the rest of the decade

[JL6293]

@andrewblastoff

As we have seen in 2009, Federer still dominates the rest of the decade lol.

[minifedex]

y was federermagic and timekillers suspended and taken off

[nhlkennedy]

nalbandian always plays well against very strong opponents like nadal, federer, roddick. he nearly beat nadal but he lost his head and nadal got his back.

[Maziar1992]

nooo what happened to federermagic? i loved those clippes? why did they take him off?

[alexthaman12345]

This is not HD this is HQ

[hungsiuming]

david is always the best indoor player

[NMtB4ev4]

Potentially, yeah. Shame Dave hasn't won a grand slam yet. I still hope he does...

[RomanticRF]

I dont why , but Roger always play great whenever he faces nalbandian ... for me I like it when Roger playes againest Nalbandian because both of their games are magical.

[intruZo1991]

that's correct. when Roger faces Nalbandian, the game quality of both players is always special. It´s seems that both guys play those best tennis when playing one against another

[IricForset]

hey be careful youtube doesnt shut you down soon intruzo1991...poor federermagic is gone, as you are probably aware.

[intruZo1991]

maybe.. but i'm confident (;

[southparkXD1]

wat bout federer and rafa!?

[seidl01]

rog always plays bad against nadal

look at AO 09

[southparkXD1]

but wat bout wimbledon..?and other 1s like that, wimbledon was quoted best match of all time

[seidl01]

yes, it was an awesome match and federer played great but he made over 60 errors...

[edsfedsf]

so he played great but he made 60+ errors? Seems like you want to say that he played bad, but then why do you say he played great?

Im pretty sure he played quite badly in that match. He also won more points than nadal after the first two sets, but lost htem both.

[JanErnesto]

oh come on! i can't hear that anymore...roger plays badly against rafa. wtf? i mean - propably rafa's playing style isn't what fed likes but look at the shanghai matches from 06 and 07 - there fed definitelly played awesome.

and in my opinion the ao were more in fed's favor than in nadal's (to 6-3 sets) but nadal was just playing in such a determined, heartful and mentally strong way that he was able to overcome and resist federer's really good game and in the end beat him

[Ryan81M]

@JanErnesto

Agreed. In all their meetings, I would say Roger played badly only on maybe 2 or 3 occasions. Roland Garros 2008 and I would say Monte Carlo and maybe Hamburg 2008.

One of the problems that he has is the Nadal forehand to his one-handed bh. With the amount of topspin generated and the ball jumping up high to his shoulders, it is very difficult to defend against. He should be commended for doing as well as he has against him with such advantage in Rafa's favour.

[xartiex]

the forehand at 3:26 was too good.

[AirForehand]

Roger in 2006 was simply amazing! Great match!

[dayostical]

lol.."and nalbandian has got the stuffing knocked out of him". That commentator was pretty mean.

[AznRamenDude]

lol, very true.

couldnt have have said something like "at least he try"

[amazingchampion]

Lovely!

[Supersquirrel103]

Excellent match. Great quality too!

[zhanghaipang]

what a handsome roger!

[almeida062]

great match by both players!