One half grass, one half clay: 15 years ago, Nadal and Federer played a very unconventional match with one goal in mind

The memorable exhibition match called Battle of Surfaces took place in Mallorca and the winner was the Spanish legend and today’s undisputed king of clay. However, the tennis court on which Nadal and Federer played their duel was quite extraordinary.

Fifteen years ago, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer played a very specific match together. The goal was one – to find out who was the best tennis player in the world.

But they both dominated on different surfaces, so the organisers of the “Battle of Surfaces” came up with an idea for a tennis court that had never been seen before.

The tennis court was covered with grass on one side and clay on the other. The legends of the sport played their match in Mallorca, and the court cost over £1 million in total.

Federer was the world number one at the time and had won 48 consecutive matches on grass, while Nadal had not lost on clay for more than three years.

In front of a crowd of 7,000, Nadal won the opening set 7-5, but Federer, now 40, bounced back in the middle part of the match to win 6-4. The match was decided by a tie-break in the third set (12::10), with the Spanish tennis player winning.

“It was a good experience, although before the match I thought it would be a disaster because I felt it would be very difficult for me to adapt on court,” Nadal said immediately after the match.

Sources: ATP, Givemesport