Longtime rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer meet on Friday in the 2013 Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals. The match starts at 7 p.m. ET. Watch the live stream HERE.
Nadal is enjoying a phenomenal season. With the exception of Wimbledon, Nadal has looked nearly unstoppable. He's made it to the finals in 10 of the 11 tournaments he's entered this season and has eight titles to his name, including one from Roland Garros.
After winning the Rogers Cup last week, the Spaniard jumped right into the Cincinnati Masters and hasn't skipped a beat. He cruised by Benjamin Becker (6-2, 6-2) and battled past Grigor Dimitrov (6-2, 5-7, 6-2) on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals - where Federer awaits.
"Always play against Roger is a special feeling," Nadal said, via Sport.co.uk. "We have a great history behind us in our confrontations, so it's another quarter-finals. It's a special one because you're playing against a very special player. Our matches were very special always.
"But, again, it's a quarter-finals match, not the final, so that's a big difference."
Federer has won only one title this year. He's struggled down the stretch of the season and, prior to Cincinnati, suffered opening round losses in four of his previous five tournaments, TennGrand.com reports.
Despite the recent string of early exits, Federer is confident he'll find his stride.
"Usually I play well before slams and I'm happy here," Federer said earlier in the week, via TennGrand.com. "I always feel very welcome. It's a nice tournament."
He's kept alive in the tournament with wins over Philipp Kohlschreiber (6-3, 7-6) and Tommy Haas (1-6, 7-5, 6-3). Winning the tournament would give Federer his sixth Cincinnati Masters title, a tournament record.
The longtime rivalry has typically been one-sided. Nadal won 22 of their 32 matches against each other, including both matches this year at Rome and Indian Wells.
*Stats via. ATPWorldTour.com and MatchStat.com.
