One of the all-time best rivalries in tennis. I forgot how aggressive Federer played always trying to come to the net. Great match.

Nadal's defensive skills when he was that young were just ridiculous.

Being a Federer fan and looking back at that time it's amazing to see how Nadal managed to neutralize Federer's biggest weapons from the beginning. He truly was his kryptonyte. At the time I couldn't stand it. I couldn't figure out why Federer, being n.1 and being the best in the world, couldn't come to grips with this player who looked to be promising and very good on clay but did not have his arsenal of shots and his class. Rafa inflicted me plenty of pain. But as the years went by he gained my respect and admiration. He's become one the best 3 guys of all time in this sport. It's like he was sent on earth to stop Federer and, being now older and more mature, I understand all the technical reasons why that happened in the first part of their rivalry. But my god, what a save from Roger here. Great match.

I don´t recall who said it first, but it´s true: Federer´s talent may have been God given, but Nadal taught him how to fight. What a great match - and many more were to come.

One of the things I miss the most about Roger is watching his movement and footwork. it's not jus that none of the today's players have his crazy level of talent - it's that the move like tanks on a battlefield. Roger was always so light and agile with his footwork. When John McEnroe would say he was like watching Baryshnikov some people took that as hyperbole. However, when you watch these old matches you can really appreciate just how great a mover Roger was. Even at age 38 - he still had great footwork and movement. If there's one thing young tennis players should be taking from bingeing Federer videos - it's his movement and footwork. Without it he couldn't have been so successful with the creativity of all his other fabulous creative attributes that everyone loves to admire.

What a match! All time greats of the game! Miss this rivalry so much!

It's incredible that it took 12 years for Federer to find an answer to Rafa's high shot on his backhand. In most of his matches, Roger's face looked displeased and frustrated at not being able to counteract Rafa's game. For me the best rivalry in tennis along with Nole vs Rafa

The beginning of an epic rivalry that gave us 40 meetings.

This was almost 20 yrs ago and it feels like yesterday! Oh my how time flies!

Thank you for broadcasting this legendary match.🎾🔥👊

Guys…Rafa and Novak eventually learned how to deviously slow down the FedExpress via exploiting the time to serve. Because of those two utilizing those tactics on both offense and defense for years and years and years, the shot clock was eventually born. Just look at how fast Rafa served here vs later in his career. Unfortunately, Roger was on the decline after that new rule was implemented…otherwise I think we’d see Roger with 30 slams.

This probably was rafa's only & close chance to claim Miami title as he's 2 points away from victory in 3rd set,his little bit inexperience played a part in his defeat as he run out of steam in sets 4 & 5 but those who watched this young talent from spain knew he would wreak havoc on tour in years to come including roger who predicted rafa would be the other man he's to face in many finals to come ,Tennis world didn't have to wait too long as 2005 witnessed rafa winning his first slam and many masters on clay. Both fought for the title like true champions 🐐🇨🇭🤝🇪🇸🐐

We were incredibly lucky to being able to witness the 3 best players of all time playing against each other over the last 2 decades.

les veo cualidades a esos muchachos, creo que llegarán lejos !!

Este chaval de naranja tiene futuro

これが伝説の始まりか！！

What a match! Those on-the-run, cross court backhand passing winners (2 examples in the first set) was the first shot type that got me hooked on Rafa. I remember being amazed at the power, angle, and precision he managed while being pushed so deep into his backhand corner. I mean, most players would have given up, but I remember thinking "he's gonna put this away", whenever he was forced into his backhand like that, with his opponent approaching the net (typically closing off the down-the-line backhand, that they expect from any other player). To bad he stopped using that shot somewhere around 2010... :(

Roger had the prettiest game... he was unique.

This was my first full tournament i watched. I was just starting to try to play tennis myself. I knew Nadal was going to be special, i can't remember for sure, but i think he was ranked in the high to mid 30's at this point. Dude won rolland garos a few months later, knocked my man federer out in the semis, and beat puerta in the finals. I even tried to adopt nadals full Western forehand he had at the time because I had trouble producing topspin on my forehand, I hit my head on the follow through and decided against it😂😂😂.

Make masters 1000 best of five again!!!!

Un torneo maldito para Rafa perdio muchas finales hasta q no quiso jugarlo más.

this was less than a year after roddick destroyed nadal at the US Open, nearly taking his head off with several serves. amazing how much he improved in so short a time. of course he dominated roddick most of his career. still strange to see nadal run out of gas at the end. not sure if he was tired or gave up cuz of the score but esp. early in his career he had a well earned reputation for endless running and unconquerable fight.

The best era of tennis was beginning :)

An absolutely beautiful match, marred a little by the drop in Rafa's level towards the end.

What a Match , Unbelievable. Out of this world. Rafa is my all time favorite for No. two Position. And off course Federer has skills, stamina & determination

14:06 I cannot believe the defence of Nadal here… What a phenomen he was

Being a lefty, Rafa always had an advantage against Fed. Add to that Rafa’s unique loopy high topspin shots and it became a nightmare for Fed. Rafa was less successful against Novak with this tactic. Fed was always far more skilful as a player and always at a disadvantage with a single handed backhand which really was from a previous era. 2017 was the year Fed became aggressive again with the neo backhand helped with the slightly larger racquet. These three will never be replaced.

Federer the GOAT

Rafa is so fast that tournament very good playing from him

5 setter in masters.❤

We will never see these players again

When Nadal and Novak played Roger on fast courts they got beaten all the time but slow the courts down like this one was and you see it takes Roger longer to win

if this had been best of three sets, then Nadal would have the Miami title already under his belt. He beat Federer in 2004, but that was not a final...

Any and all Federer footage should be remastered, stat!

20:30 the guy that picked the racket was lucky on that day

Nadal GOAT

Nice match

Jawohl Machac 😊👍

Best rivalry of all time.... Djokovic (who i like too) is ahead of them both in term of palmares but the emotion that these 2 gave to us is uncomparable !!!

Jawohl Krawietz und Pütz 😊👍🇩🇪🇩🇪

Federer is superhuman !

Nadal reached the finals 5 times and lost all of them. Not even a single Miami open Masters trophy. 2005 - Federer 2008 - Davydenko 2011 - Djokovic 2014 - Djokovic 2017 - Federer

Roger to Rafa: I won't let you winning Miami. Rafa to Roger: i won't let you winning Rome.

Umpire ruined the result smh. Nadal is an honorary Miami champion

It's astounding how some individuals feel compelled to assert a perceived superiority of a third player over others instead of simply enjoying the sport. Intervening on behalf of someone who doesn't need your help or defense suggests a complex rather than a genuine appreciation for the game. It's genuinely childish.

Like a GS final..

How come Federer has glowed up over years yet Nadal looks much worse than his younger self

The greatest and Federer! What a match ❤

Look at the quality of those rallies.That is the reason why they are the 2nd and 3rd most successful players in Grandslam history.

Tennis tv bro

CAN IMAGINE HOW NADAL INJURED HIS KNEES AND HIP AFTER PLAYING FOR 2 DECADES .

First! Nice classic

This is why Nadal replaced Federer later.

they used to play 5 sets in mimi?

I THOUGHT MIAMI IS 3 SETTER

Brutalized tenis!!!😮😮😮 Classic example how Nadal ruined his body with that mad effort!!! This is why he need to play on supstances...

Federer and his wife have been looking the same in the last 20 years!!😮😅

Bring back 3 Set Master 1000 Finals! You chickens, lol

20:30 he throws the blunt object into a crowd of innocent people. So what if someone gets injured?

Miami open was best of 5 I thought only Majors were best of five

Nadal biceps were smaller back then! So less top spin vs few years later?

But he didn't manage.. he lost.. didn't u watch the end of the match?

slow surface. no wonder Nadal could manage long rallies against Roger

Second and third the best in history!!! Amazing players!!!❤😎

Back when masters 1000 where 5 seters imagine these new generation doing that.. no wonder rafa got so badly injured.. every fkn turnoment was too 5 sets 😅

It's only fitting that the epic rivalry began with the greatest ever facing his greatest rival ever. ❤🎉🎉🎉

Joker doesn't even belong in the top 10. These guys recreated the game. I wish it involved more serve and volley, but their creativity is the best ever!

Que lindo verlo perder a Nadal

Boos

You have the 1st and 2nd most liked players playing each other and both are Gentlemen on and off the court and then there is Novak who may have more slams but is not liked much on the tour and has a nasty temper

I genuinely think that Fed would have been the goat had he chosen a 2 handed backhand

Novak is THE best CLUTCH player, ever. GS has nothing to do with goat-ness. Take the legend Lee Chong Wei as example. Mentality is just a property. Novak is better in that. Tennis literally grew because of Federer and Nadal!

Before all of Nadal's PED use was rampant.

quality so bad, use some ai upscaling man , learn chat gpt hire a video editor jesus man

Djokovic fraud

It's insane how geezer Federer completely demolished Nadal from 2014 onwards. The freaking GOAT right there!

The robbed nadal

This court is slower than dirt. What a joke

Federer could not hit a fh winner to save his live in 2005.

I will call the show and ask for time, if I have time to explain myself I will win the debate. I have developed a program to end atheism with several steps. There is not point in debating if reality is eternal when it has not been understood reality exists. Let's start from the beginning and the easiest. One day at a time. Let's go step by step. The first step or debate is "is the most emblematic remark of atheism "who created god?" rational or irrational?". The first step is the most important, atheists start to walk searching for the truth, the first step is to decide to start a quest to find out if atheism is the truth. The second step or debate is "does something exists now?" or "does reality exists?". The third step is "can something be created from nothing?". The fourth step is "is reality eternal?. The fourth step is a breakthrough, a milestone, once we get get there I think we could have a break to rest and enjoy ourselves because in life not everything is work, we have also to rest and play to work well. The fifth step is hard, a steep upwards slope, more like climbing the mount Everest, "can the universe be eternal?" or "can what has a beginning of existence be eternal?". We rest again and prepare for the next step. Understanding the universe can not be eternal means an eternal reality that created the universe exists, it means something uncreated that created what has a beginning of existence exists. The sixth and final step is "is intelligent what created the universe?". Your new life begins after you completed the journey to discover the truth. The truth is atheism is a logical fallacy that assumes God is the religious idea of the creator of the creation to conclude wrongly no creator exists because a particular idea of God doesn’t exist. I hope to hear from you. Thank you.

Peak Federer struggling with fetus Rafa on a hardcourt LOL. Look how bad Fed’s backhand is pahaha.

Shitty highlights, 90% of the points shown are wins by Federer.

With the hawk-eye, Nadal would have won Miami 2005 but, unfortunately, the technology that would do justice to tennis some time later had not yet been implemented.