#3 2009 Madrid Open semi-final
After winning the Madrid Masters in 2005, Nadal failed to reach the final in the following three years. In 2009, though, the Spaniard put together a good run, not dropping a single set until the quarter-finals. After beating Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals, Nadal was set to face Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
The Serb drew first blood, winning the first set convincingly 6-3. In the second set, Nadal saved two break points while serving at 4-4 and eventually took the set in a tiebreak to level the match.
The third set was another exciting one as both players fought hard with the set again going to a tiebreak. During the tiebreak, Nadal saved three match points before edging out Djokovic 11-9 to take his clay-court win streak to 33.
The match lasted four hours and three minutes, thus becoming the longest three-set tennis match in men’s tennis history, a record that was later broken by Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals of the 2012 London Olympics.
However, Nadal would go on to lose the final against Federer in straight sets.
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