SHANGHAI — Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-3 in the 2017 Shanghai Masters final to claim his 27th Masters 1000 title, the 24th and last ATP final between the legendary rivals in front of a packed crowd in China's largest city. The Swiss did not face a break point as he dominated from start to finish nine years ago.
The pair met in 24 finals in total. Federer won their first at the 2005 Miami Open in Florida, battling back from two sets down to win 2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1 after losing to the Spaniard in the third round of the same event 12 months earlier. Heading into Shanghai, Nadal was the favourite and top seed having won 17 consecutive matches, while Federer had won his last four matches against Nadal including the Miami Open final earlier that year.
Federer was delighted with his fifth consecutive win over his rival and explained the tactical shift behind his resurgence. “I think I’m maybe serving consistently better, you know. I get easier power ever since I switched to the bigger racquet, the RF97. I feel I’m connecting better on the backhand, and I’m serving good, and that consistently,” he said. He added that before he had to slice more because the racquet was good for the slice but he would shank too many balls, whereas now returning coming over the backhand felt natural and it was easier to play Nadal on hard and faster courts.
Nadal was generous in defeat after being outplayed. “He played very fast, and he played well. I don’t know how many unforced errors he made, but I don’t remember. He played so well, I think. Yeah, I could do maybe some things better, but that’s it. No, no, he just played too good. That’s my point of view. So congrats to him,” he said. He added: “For this year, Roger did great in all the events that he played, so it looks like he saved his body; he did the right things, yes, probably, yes, but at the same time, anything could happen.”
Federer and Nadal never played another final after Shanghai, but they met three more times on the ATP Tour. Federer won their 2019 Indian Wells semi-final, Nadal won their 2019 French Open semi-final, before Federer won their final meeting at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships to seal his place in the final.