I had 'nothing to lose' says Rafael Nadal talking about first match against Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are celebrating the 13<sup>th year of their long-standing rivalry which began at the Miami Masters back in 2004 when the former – then world number 34 - beat the latter who was the world number one in straight sets in the second round.

The duo have since gone on to dominate the game amassing 32 Grand Slam titles between them with both players achieving the top ranking in men's singles. Nadal and Federer are currently ranked number seven and six in the world respectively and have progressed to the quarter-finals of the 2017 Miami Masters.

The Spaniard leads the head-to-head count between the two players with 23 wins from their 36 meetings but has lost the last three matches, with two coming in 2017 at the final of the Australian Open and the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Masters.

Nadal was 17 years old when he took the court in Miami against Federer in 2004. The 14-time Grand Slam champion surprised everyone when he went on to beat the Swiss ace in 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets. He has now revealed that he went on court on the day with 'nothing to lose' as his mentality was unlike today when he looks at the bigger picture rather than it being just a match.

"I went on court, with nothing to lose. A lot of motivation to play against, I think, No 1 already," Nadal said, as quoted by tennisworldusa.org.

"This is not like now that I want to win, and I want to be in the final round, and I want to fight for the tournament. In that moment, I had 17. And for me to play with Roger, doesn't matter if it was in that early round, I don't felt it was unlucky for me. It was a beautiful match, and I tried to go out on court and enjoy it and fight for it," the Spaniard added.