Another Chapter in the Federer-Nadal Rivalry

Federer reaches for a backhand during his doubles campaign .

At the beginning of this year's BNP Paribas Open, all the hype surrounded the big four (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray) of tennis and their singles tournaments.  Nevertheless, an interesting phenomena occurred when the doubles draw was released.  All of the big four were enrolled in the doubles draw as well as the singles.  A savory match glimmered on the horizon, as a seemingly predestined blockbuster ensued between Roger Federer, Stanislas "Stanley (according to Federer)" Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal, and his partner Marc Lopez.

Nadal and Federer had met twice before in doubles, with the Spaniard getting the best of his Swiss rival on both occasions.  However, this time Federer had his Olympic-winning pairing to assist him against the "matador" from Mallorca.

M. Lopez and Nadal celebrate after a point at Indian Wells.

After some scintillating play from both teams, Nadal handed the Swiss team the first set in the form of two nervy double faults.  With the momentum fully in the hands of the Swiss super stars, and some clutch volleying from the maybe under-acknowledged Wawrinka, the Swiss took the second set relatively comfortably.  Nadal's miss on match point handed the Swiss duo a much deserved  7-5, 6-3 victory over the Spanish challengers.


Be sure to check out the doubles final between Wawrinka/Federer and Dolgopolov/ Malisse at 7:30 Eastern time on tennis channel.