Every tennis player dreams of winning a Masters 1000 tournament. The Italian Open, also known as the Rome Masters, is one of the nine competitions in the category. Several legends who had been crowned in the Italian capital include Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Bjorn Borg. However, Roger Federer isn’t one of them.
In that sense, Federer has an unfortunate record in the Italian Open. He is the player with the most wins in the tournament without having won the title. During his career, he recorded 31 wins across 17 appearances.
The Swiss Maestro reached the final of the event four times, but lost them all. His first final was in 2003, when he was defeated by Felix Mantilla. Then, Nadal beat him in 2006, in an epic five-setter final, and 2013, and Novak Djokovic took the title in 2015.
Federer, who retired in 2022, is also the third man with most wins in general, only behind Djokovic and Nadal. The Serbian star has recorded 68 wins so far, winning the title six times (2008, 2011, 2014-15, 2020, and 2022), while Nadal won the tournament a record-breaking ten times.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal after the 2006 Rome final (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Federer and Nadal’s epic 2006 final
Nadal had won four of his first five matches against Federer, including all three on clay, heading into the 2006 Rome final. The Swiss was still trying to figure out how to win the Spaniard on clay, and he went with a more attacking approach.
Federer played aggressively, winning 64 of 84 net points and taking control with his forehand. He led by a set, went up 4-2 in the second, and held two match points in the fifth, but Nadal came back to win the title in a final-set tiebreak.
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The match was tense, and emotions ran high. Afterward Federer called Nadal’s game “one-dimensional.” Nadal responded the next day, saying Federer needed “to learn to be a gentleman even when he loses.”
While the animosity of their early clashes cooled as their careers progressed, eventually giving way to mutual respect, Nadal ultimately held the upper hand in their rivalry, finishing with a 24–16 record, including dominance on clay.
