Forget the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees—that’s so 2004. The Yankees haven’t come close to the BoSox in a long time. 



Ditto the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins—they haven’t seen a Super Bowl since Bill & Hillary were in the White House. Tiger and Mickelson? Um, not so much. Olympic icon Michael Phelps and anyone? Nope. OK, so the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers dusted off their storied rivalry this year but it has been a long time coming.
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If you want to talk sports rivalries—red hot, riveting, through the roof modern day rivalries—the best one in sports today, all in living flat-screen HD glory—is Roger Federer against Rafael Nadal. No contest.



Yes, I’m talking tennis—cue your best John McEnroe “You can not be serious!” voice here. Even if you haven’t been paying attention, the rest of the world is tuning in and turning on to tennis’ own version of Ali-Frazier. That’s right, the Swiss Assassin vs. the Majorcan Muscleman. The Artist vs. the Raging Bull. Federer vs. Nadal. It’s the best show on TV. 



Here’s the evidence: 



Clash of the Titans: Federer and Nadal give us exactly what a great rivalry need—they’re polar opposites: Federer’s the pure traditionalist, donning 1920s style white blazers or cardigans while Nadal is pure rock star, long hair and sleeveless muscle tees. Federer’s all-court offense; Nadal’s baseline defense. Federer’s Swiss calm and Nadal’s Spanish fire. Grace and beauty meet brute power and athleticism. The rallies are often jaw dropping; the battle of wills always intriguing. It’s friggin’ fun to watch. Don’t buy it?—YouTube their 2006 Masters Cup semifinal from Shanghai. Nine minutes of “wow” highlights later and you’ll be sold—you won’t believe match point.



Red Hot Buzz: After tangling in six Grand Slam finals—three in a row at both the French Open and Wimbledon—Fed vs. Nadal has built up some serious buzz. Even legendary boxing promoter Don King showed up to hype the dynamic duo’s potential match-up as “The Grapple in the Apple” before the start of this year’s U.S. Open in New York City, and billboards and taxis everywhere showcased the match-up. Even the great Pete Sampras says: "The Federer-Nadal rivalry has transcended the sport." 

Guys, Federer-Nadal has become much more than tennis match, it’s a televised spectacle.



Established Greatness: At 27 and 22, Federer and Nadal have already cast their long shadows over tennis history. For many, Federer’s unprecedented list of records already establish him as the GOAT (Greatest of All Time), with five straight Wimbledon titles, five straight U.S. Opens, three Australian Opens and three French Open finals (14-time Slam champ and current GOAT of choice Sampras never got near the final in Paris). Nadal’s four straight French Opens leave him with a 28-0 career record at Rolland Garros, unmatched in history, and his 81 match winning streak on clay (ended by Federer in 2007) is the all-time male record.

Federer’s historic stranglehold on the rankings lasted for a staggering 237 consecutive weeks, while Nadal held the No. 2 ranking for 160 consecutive weeks—also a record—until Nadal finally took over the No. 1 spot this summer. “My goal is to try to get No. 1 ranking back,” says Federer. Stay tuned. 



Recurring Battles: Ali-Frazier created their legend with only three fights, but Federer-Nadal have already played six Grand Slam finals (Nadal leads 4-2), and a total of 18 matches (Nadal leads 12-6). Federer fans are quick to point out that most of those losses (9) have been on Nadal’s preferred surface, clay. Three of these matches are already considered modern classics: the 2007 Wimbledon final (Federer won 6-2 in the fifth), the 2006 Rome Masters (Nadal won 7-6 in the fifth) and the big daddy of all tennis matches, the 2008 Wimbledon final. Expect another two Slam finals between them—and their first in either Melbourne or New York—in 2009.



The Greatest Match of All Time: Forget the 1980 Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe Wimbledon battle (Borg won that classic 8-6 in the fifth), because for outrageously high caliber of play, grand theatre, gut-wrenching drama and incredibly high stakes, the 2008 Wimbledon final is already widely considered the “greatest tennis match ever” according to Sports Illustrated and virtually every tennis pundit. Bill Dywre of the Los Angeles Times said it perfectly: “Even for those who don’t know a backhand from a backbite, what transpired was mesmerizing.” It was more than that. It was simply unbelievable and astoundingly good television.
    

This was pure Hollywood: Federer’s legendary 65 match win streak on grass and a record-breaking sixth consecutive Wimbledon title was on the line. Nadal stalked him, seeking the first French Open-Wimbledon winning double since Borg in 1980.  Not one but two rain delays, sky-high level of play, lost match points (Nadal had two in the fourth set breaker), and impending darkness amidst tennis’ own version of overtime (there are no final set tiebreakers at Wimbledon) as the score reached 5-5, then 6-6, then 7-7-the tension unbearable—before Nadal prevailed 9-7 under shroud of darkness. “If you wrote a script it couldn’t have been any better,” said Sampras.
    

Match time: 4 hours and 48 minutes, with more than six hours of total time elapsed since the first ball was struck. That’s longer than the entire Super Bowl (including half time show), Kentucky Derby and every one of Phelps’ Olympic races combined. Even the cynical McEnroe lost his composure interviewing a clearly devastated and overwrought Federer for NBC. With this match, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal transformed an already great rivalry into a rivalry to rival any other.



The Sky’s the Limit: But is the best yet to come? If Nadal’s at times fragile body holds up and Federer maintains his late 2008 form, expect a lot more fireworks in 2009 and beyond. Federer is only 27, late middle age for a tennis player but remember, Agassi made the U.S. Open final when he was a creaky 36, and Federer says he’s playing through at least 2012. At only 22, Nadal has yet to peak. Scary.

Expect more finals in Paris and Wimbledon—I say Federer gets a French Open one way or another before he’s through—but I also expect Nadal to step it up on hard-court in Australia and at the U.S. Open. "I can improve my game in every surface, no?" says Nadal. "On clay, grass, hard, indoor, every place I can improve, no?" Sounds like appointment television to us.

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