 David Nalbandian was Federer 's biggest rival in his early career . The two played each other 19 times , with Federer leading 11 – 8 . Nalbandian dominated early on , taking all of their first five matches from 2002 – 03 . Federer reversed this trend at the 2003 Masters Cup , where he recorded his first victory , and would go on to win 11 of their last 14 meetings . Federer led 6 – 5 on hard courts , 1 – 0 on grass , and 3 – 1 on clay courts , while Nalbandian led 2 – 1 on carpet . Notable meetings include Nalbandian 's win in a fifth @-@ set tiebreaker to win the 2005 Masters Cup , and Federer 's win in the 2006 French Open semifinals . They met each other six times in Grand Slam tournaments , with Federer leading 4 – 2 . 
 David Nalbandian was Federer <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>biggest rival in his early career . The two<a href='been_done' title='2'><mark></mark></a> played each other 19 times , with Federer leading 11 – 8 . Nalbandian dominated early on , taking all of their first five matches from 2002 – 03 . Federer reversed this trend at the 2003 Masters Cup , where he recorded his first victory , and would go on to win 11 of their last 14 meetings . Federer<a href='been_done' title='3'><mark></mark></a> led 6 – 5 on hard courts , 1 – 0 on grass , and 3 – 1 on clay courts , while Nalbandian led 2 – 1 on carpet . Notable meetings include Nalbandian <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>win in a fifth @-@ set tiebreaker to win the 2005 Masters Cup , and Federer <a href='null_genetive' title='5'><mark>'s</mark></a>win in the 2006 French Open semifinals . They<a href='been_done' title='6'><mark></mark></a> met each other six times in Grand Slam tournaments , with Federer leading 4 – 2 . 
David Nalbandian was Federer  biggest rival in his early career . The two done played each other 19 times , with Federer leading 11 – 8 . Nalbandian dominated early on , taking all of their first five matches from 2002 – 03 . Federer reversed this trend at da 2003 Masters Cup , where he recorded his first victory , and would go on to win 11 of their last 14 meetings . Federer been led 6 – 5 on hard courts , 1 – 0 on grass , and 3 – 1 on clay courts , while Nalbandian led 2 – 1 on carpet . Notable meetings include Nalbandian  win in a fifth @-@ set tiebreaker to win tda2005 Masters Cup , and Federer  win in the 2006 French Open semifinals . They been met each other six times in Grand Slam tournaments , with Federer leading 4 – 2 .