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Five-time champion Roger Federer meets Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the most eagerly awaited match of the year so far. This promises to be an explosive encounter
with both players in peak form, and we fully expect a classic.

Both players have been playing sublime tennis so far this tournament, with Nadal in particular impressing all who witnessed his brutal demolition of Andy Murray.
However, while he has generally been exceptional so far, Nadal has been prone to slight lapses - he dropped the opening set in his second round match against Ernest Gulbis,
and to the shock of many, his serve was broken by Rainer Schuettler in his semi-final, and had to break back to stay in the second set. These lapses may not have proved costly for Nadal,
but he can be assured that any such lulls will be fully exploited by Federer in the final.

Meanwhile, FedEx is yet to drop a set throughout the tournament, and has generally been untroubled. It seems that he has gone into each match so far with his eye on a final against Nadal, with the ultimate aim of gaining revenge for his humiliating French Open defeat. It should be noted that the H2H is 11:6 in Nadal's favour, but remarkably, nine of those victories have come on clay, where Nadal's superiority is unquestioned.

Although we must give Nadal due respect for his improvement on grass, the prices on offer do not accurately reflect the defending five-time champion's chances here, and Federer must be backed with confidence.
NJ's bet:

Back Roger Federer to beat Rafael Nadal - 4pts @ 1.81