After a shocking battle, Rafael Nadal defeated his great opponent, Roger Federer with 2-1 sets (5-7, 6-4, 6-3) and qualified for the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters, where he will face with Thomas Berdych, who defeated Andy Murray 2-0 earlier (6-3, 6-4, after 1 hour and 32 minutes).
Although Federer was superior to Nadal for most of the match, the Spaniard (undefeated this year on hard surfaces) was the one who finally celebrated the big victory.
This was Nadal's 21st victory over Federer in 31 games, while on a hard surface the score for the Spaniard is 7-6 now! This was in fact his 13th consecutive victory on hard surfaces, while he improved his record for 2013 to 51-3.
Nadal showed great composure and did not bend, although, as mentioned above, the Swiss controlled the flow of the match until the end of the second set thanks to his tactics.
Now Nadal, after the exclusions of Djokovic and Murray, is the undisputed favorite for the title in Ohio, which if he wins, will bring him to No. 2 in the world rankings, ahead of Murray.
On the contrary, Federer after this defeat will fall to No. 7 in the world, with Berdych and Del Potro overtaking him in the ATP standings.