Federer vs Nadal: 5 instances when Roger Federer let a critical lead slip away against Rafael Nadal

#1) 2011 - French Open Final

This was the fourth time Nadal had defeated Federer in the French open final

2011 was the first Slam-less year for Federer since 2002. He reached the semi-final of the Australian Open and US Open where lost to Novak Djokovic, and the quarterfinal of Wimbledon where he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Nadal was the favorite at Roland Garros but Federer was not behind, as he defeated Djokovic in four sets in the semi-final to reach the summit clash. Nadal evaded his nemesis Novak Djokovic in the final, who had defeated him in straight sets at the finals in Madrid and Rome.

Federer broke the Nadal in the first service game and raced to a 3-0 lead. He was cruising in the first set with a double break of serve, and got a set point when he led 5-2. However, a few unforced errors saw the game vanish and Nadal clawed back to 5-3, still a break down.

Another iffy game from Federer saw Nadal breaking back his serve and leveling the first set at 5-5. Then the inconceivable happened again as Nadal broke Federer at 5-5 to win 6 games in a row and wrap up the first set 7-5.

In the second set, Nadal was serving for a two-set lead at 5-4, (40-30), but a forehand error made it deuce and this was when the match had a 10-minute rain delay. Nadal had another set point when the match resumed, but Federer saved that one too and broke Nadal to make it 5-5.

The second set went to a tie-breaker and Nadal quickly raced to 4-0 lead and eventually won the tie-breaker 7-3.

In the third set, Nadal broke Federer to race to a 4-2 lead and it appeared that it was game over for Federer. But Fedal clashes never end without pulsating drama and unbelievable suspense.

It was at this stage that Federer started to play some unbelievable drop shots combined with well-directed winners and took the third set 7-5. All of a sudden it looked like the 2008 Wimbledon final plot was about to reincarnate itself.

But that wasn’t to be as Nadal come out all guns blazing in the fourth set, and Federer didn’t have an answer. Nadal won the set 6-1 and with it the French Open.

The match result could have been different had Federer capitalized on the double break of serve when he led 5-2 in the first set.

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Match result – Nadal won 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-1

Match duration – 3 hours and 40 minutes