Nadal and Federer set dream Shanghai final

Having swept the pool of Grand Slam titles with a pair apiece this season, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will face off for the penultimate Masters title of 2017 in the final of Shanghai.

It will be the 38^th career meeting between the two prolific fan favourites and their third final in a season where they’ve repeatedly denied younger opponents the opportunity to progress.

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Nadal, reinstalled at world No.1 since August, continued a 16-match winning streak with a 7-5 7-6(3) win over Marin Cilic in the semifinals.

As a winner of the US Open and last week’s China Open in Beijing, Rafa is aiming for a third consecutive title, his seventh of 2017 and his 76^th career title in general.

A win over Federer in the Shanghai final would also see the Spaniard edge ahead of the record 30 ATP Masters titles he currently shares with Novak Djokovic.

The world No.1 is high on confidence after a solid performance against the dangerous Cilic. He saved a trio of set points in the opener against the 2014 US Open champion before surging to victory in two hours and 12 minutes.

“I played a very high level of tennis, it was a great match again,” Nadal said. “In my opinion, Cilic played well, too. It was a great, good quality of tennis this afternoon.

“I’m very satisfied with everything. I am happy.”

Federer recovered from a first set deficit against del Potro, whose participation was earlier in doubt due to a wrist injury he incurred during his quarterfinal win against Viktor Troicki.

But the Argentine – who upset the Swiss in their most recent meeting in the US Open quarterfinals – took to the court and made Federer work hard for his 3-6 6-3 6-3 win.

“I played a very clean second set, hardly dropped points on my own serve,” said Federer. “It was good energy out there on the court today.

“I really tried to push myself after playing a bit of a subdued maybe first set, but Juan Martin didn’t allow me to play so much in that first set.”

While trailing 14-23 in the overall head-to-head record with Nadal, the world No.2 takes satisfying momentum into their fourth contest of 2017.

Federer is the winner of the pair’s past four matches– incorporating finals wins this season at the Australian Open and Miami, along with the Indian Wells fourth round.

The world No.2 notes that it is Nadal himself who has helped him arrest that re-establish his dominance at age 36.

“He made me maybe rework my game and go back to the practice courts and think about what I could change maybe to become a better player,” said Federer of his long rivalry with Nadal.

“I think for that I’m happy about the losses I took. Took them on the chin and kept moving forward. It’s nice at this late stage of the career that we still have these matches going on.”

Still, there is much at stake for the Spaniard who would virtually guarantee the year-end No.1 ranking with a first Shanghai title. He currently holds a 2760 point lead over the No.2 Swiss.

Federer is aiming for a 94^th career title overall, and a second Shanghai victory to match his win there in 2014.