Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal - Who wins the race towards 21st Major title?

For the first time in a career, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are leveled on 20 Major titles, with the Spaniard matching his greatest rival at Roland Garros in October.

Since 2017 (they were both struggling in the previous year), Nadal claimed six Major trophies, four at his beloved Roland Garros and two more at the US Open. The Spaniard is yet to taste victory at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in the previous decade, winning his only crown in Melbourne in 2009 and at Wimbledon in 2010.

Read also

Roger Federer's five consecutive US Open titles

While losing many Melbourne finals in the previous decade, Nadal is still among the title contenders down under, playing for the trophy in 2017 and 2019 while losing a tight quarter-final to Dominic Thiem a year ago. Rafa is currently in Adelaide, serving his two-week quarantine before moving to Melbourne for the ATP Cup and the Australian Open, seeking the 21st Major crown that would push him ahead of Roger Federer in the GOAT race.

Rafa will have another opportunity to leave Roger behind at Roland Garros, conquering 13 titles from 16 trips to Paris since 2005 and hoping to extend his reign for a couple more years. Diego Schwartzman, Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic can match Nadal's level on the slowest surface. However, that wasn't the case last October, with Rafa claiming the 13th Parisian crown without losing a set, all that at 34!

Read also

'I beat Nadal, I want the same against Federer, Djokovic,' says Schwartzman

Wimbledon is Nadal's biggest problem, not playing in a final since 2011 and experiencing a couple of terrible losses in the following years. The Spaniard played well at the All England Club in 2018 and 2019, though, losing in the semis to Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer but boosting his chances of lifting the trophy again.

Nadal claimed two of the last four US Open titles, missing the event in 2020 after a long break caused by the coronavirus and looking to return to New York this September, seeking the fifth US Open trophy.