Rafael Nadal has won nearly everything there is to win in the world of tennis – most of it on multiple occasions.
Four US Open titles, two at Wimbledon and the Australian Open – not forgetting his 14 trophies at Roland Garros.
His Masters 1000 record was, similarly, impressive, playing 500 matches and winning 36 of such events.
However, one ‘mark’ against the Spaniard is his record in Miami Open finals, losing all five showpiece matches in which Nadal participated.
Here, we take a look back at each of the finals.
2005 – against Roger Federer
One of Nadal’s most notable early matches was a third-round match at the Miami Open against world No 1 Roger Federer. The young Spaniard was victorious 6-3, 6-3 in the first-ever singles match between the two.
In 2005, the pair would meet once again in Miami, this time in the final.
Nadal, en route to the showpiece match, had beaten Rainer Schuttler, Fernando Verdasco, Ivan Ljubicic, Thomas Johansson, and David Ferrer.
The Spaniard got off to a flying start, taking the opening set 6-2 with pinpoint passing shots which left his opponent helpless.
Federer attempted to come back strongly, racing to a 5-2 lead in the second set, but failed to capitilise on multiple set points – before Nadal took the set 7-6(4).
The turning point of the match occurred in the third set, with Nadal 4-3 up and just two points from a crucial break. The 20-time Grand Slam champion appeared to hit a forehand which sailed long, but the umpire didn’t make a call. Hawkeye, which wasn’t available to players at the time, showed that the ball was, indeed, long.
Subsequently, Federer took the third set 7-6(5), before dominating the fourth and fifth sets – 6-3, 6-1.
After the heartbreaking match, Nadal stated: “Federer is a player that makes mistakes, that’s not his strength. His strength resides in being able to surprise you, and in not making mistakes in the most important moments.”
2008 – against Nikolay Davydenko
Three years and three Grand Slam titles later, Nadal had put himself back in the Miami Open final.
The world No 2 had beaten Benjamin Becker, Nicolas Kiefer, Paul-Henri Mathieu, James Blake, and Tomas Berdych.
In the final, Nadal faced fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, a match-up which had always gone the distance in their previous two matches.
The two traded breaks early on, with Nadal taking some time to ease into the final. However, a loose service game at 3-3 would hand Davydenko his second break of the set – enough to claim it 6-4.
Nadal’s start to the second set would be equally disappointing, being broken in his opening service game, before subsequently going down a double break.
That would be enough for the Russian, who claimed the final 6-4, 6-1 with an inside-out forehand winner.
2011 – against Novak Djokovic
By 2011, Nadal had truly established himself as a legend of the sport and was the dominant world No 1. However, unfortunately for him, another great was on the rise – Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian was on a 23-match winning streak by the time the Miami final arrived, winning the Australian Open, Dubai, and Indian Wells events.
En route to the final, Nadal overcame Kei Nishikori, Feliciano Lopez, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Berdych, and Roger Federer.
Unlike in 2008, the world No 1 began the match in impressive fashion, opening up the court with his trusted forehand-to-backhand combination, with Djokovic unable to effectively redirect the ball.
The form would hand Nadal the first set 6-4, but a mid-set break in the second would force the showpiece match to a deciding set.
Both would continue to hold their serves, with the Spaniard being just two points away from victory at 6-5 30-30.
Djokovic raced off to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak, before Nadal reclaimed one minibreak, with the Serb claiming the title with yet another attacking forehand to his opponent’s backhand.
The 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) final took three hours and nine minutes to be completed, the longest three-set final in the tournament’s history.
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2014 – against Novak Djokovic
Along the way to the final, Nadal had beaten Lleyton Hewitt, Denis Istomin, Fabio Fognini, and Milos Raonic – before Berdych withdrew before their last-four match.
The 2014 final, however, was, arguably, the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s least competitive. He managed to produce a break point in the first game of the match but was unable to produce another for the rest of the final.
Djokovic, once again, proved the victor and did so via a sensational 30-shot rally – claiming a 6-3, 6-3 win.
After four final losses, Nadal was asked about his inability to lift the trophy in Miami.
“Miami is the same level as Indian Wells, same level as Cincinnati, Toronto, Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid,” the Spanaird commented.
“The quality of the tournament is Masters 1000 that I won 26, so I cannot have a mental block on that.
“No, no frustration. That’s tennis. That’s the sport.”
2017 – against Roger Federer
2017 marked a resurgent year for both Nadal and Federer, having competed alongside each other in the season’s first Grand Slam final.
The Swiss had claimed a third consecutive victory against the Spaniard just a week prior at Indian Wells, with a dominant 6-2, 6-3 performance.
En route to the final in 2017, Nadal defeated David Sela, Philip Kohlschreiber, Nicolas Mahut, Jack Sock, and Fabio Fognini – dropping just one set along the way.
From the outset, the Spaniard looked far stronger than he did at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, producing a break point in Federer’s first service game.
However, whilst it was a closer affair, Federer’s more aggressive backhand proved to be an effective anecdote to Nada’s heavy topspin, breaking at 4-3 before taking the first set 6-3.
The second set remained on serve until 4-4, before the Swiss made his move, breaking and, eventually, serving out the second set 6-4 with a Nadal backhand going long.
After the match, the runner-up stated: “I just can say thank you very much to everybody here in Miami.
“Miami has been a very good two weeks for me, even if I lost for the third time this year against Roger. It was a good start to the season, playing already in three finals.
“It’s disappointing for me that I have been trying during all my career. Every three years, I am here in this position but always with the smaller trophy.”
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