Battle of Surfaces
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Surfaces was a men's tennis
exhibition match that was held on May 2, 2007, between Roger Federer
, then the top-ranked men's player, and Rafael Nadal
, then World No. 2. The match was played in the capital city of Nadal's home island, Palma de Mallorca
, in front of a home crowd at Palma Arena
. Nadal won 7–5, 4–6, 7–6(12–10).
The match was played on a unique court with a clay
surface on one side of the net and grass
on the other. The court cost $1.63 million to make and took 19 days to prepare. At the time, Federer had won 48 straight matches on grass courts, while Nadal had 72 straight wins on clay.
In the match, Federer won an equal number of points on both surfaces. Nadal won seven fewer points than Federer on grass but twelve more on clay.
Before the match, Federer said,
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
exhibition match that was held on May 2, 2007, between Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
, then the top-ranked men's player, and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
, then World No. 2. The match was played in the capital city of Nadal's home island, Palma de Mallorca
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...
, in front of a home crowd at Palma Arena
Palma Arena
The Palma Arena is a multisport pavilion of the city of Palma de Mallorca. Its main function is hosting indoor track cycling races on a banked track, and is one of the best equipped in Europe for this purpose...
. Nadal won 7–5, 4–6, 7–6(12–10).
The match was played on a unique court with a clay
Clay court
A clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
surface on one side of the net and grass
Grass court
A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Grass courts are made of rye grass in different compositions depending on the tournament...
on the other. The court cost $1.63 million to make and took 19 days to prepare. At the time, Federer had won 48 straight matches on grass courts, while Nadal had 72 straight wins on clay.
In the match, Federer won an equal number of points on both surfaces. Nadal won seven fewer points than Federer on grass but twelve more on clay.
Before the match, Federer said,
We are both looking forward to this absolutely new event. The idea really appeals to me as we both dominate one of the surfaces. Rafa holds the record of 72 victories in series on clay and I have not been defeated on grass since 48 matches. It'll be fun to find out what it's like to play on a court with mixed surfaces! And it ought to be interesting to see who chooses the better tactic. People have been talking about this event for quite a while. Now it's coming up pretty soon already and I like the fact that the stadium - which is very nice, by the way - is located on Majorca, Rafa's home. He has been to Basel, after all, and now I've got the opportunity to play at his place for once.