 Nadal leads their head @-@ to @-@ head 23 – 11 . Of their 34 matches , 15 have been on clay , which is by far Nadal 's best surface . Federer has a winning record on grass ( 2 – 1 ) and indoor hard courts ( 5 – 1 ) , while Nadal leads the outdoor hard courts ( 8 – 2 ) and clay ( 13 – 2 ) . Because tournament seedings are based on rankings , 21 of their matches have been in tournament finals which have included an all @-@ time record eight Grand Slam finals . From 2006 to 2008 , they played in every French Open and Wimbledon final . They then met in the 2009 Australian Open final and the 2011 French Open final . Nadal won six of the eight , losing the first two Wimbledon finals . Three of these finals were five set @-@ matches ( 2007 and 2008 Wimbledon , 2009 Australian Open ) , with the 2008 Wimbledon final being lauded as the greatest match ever by many long @-@ time tennis analysts . Of their 34 meetings , 12 have reached a deciding set . They have also played in 10 Masters Series finals , including their lone five @-@ hour match at the 2006 Rome Masters which Nadal won in a fifth @-@ set tie @-@ break , having saved two match points . 
 Nadal <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>leads</mark></a> their head @-@ to @-@ head 23 – 11 . Of their 34 matches , 15 have been on clay , which is by far Nadal <a href='null_genetive' title='2'><mark>'s</mark></a>best surface . Federer <a href='got' title='3'><mark>has</mark></a> a winning record on grass ( 2 – 1 ) and indoor hard courts ( 5 – 1 ) , while Nadal <a href='uninflect' title='4'><mark>leads</mark></a> the outdoor hard courts ( 8 – 2 ) and clay ( 13 – 2 ) . Because tournament seedings are based on rankings , 21 of their matches have been in tournament finals which <a href='been_done' title='5'><mark>have</mark></a> included an all @-@ time record eight Grand Slam finals . From 2006 to 2008 , they played in every French Open and Wimbledon final . They then met in the 2009 Australian Open final and the 2011 French Open final . Nadal won six of the eight , losing the first two Wimbledon finals . Three of these finals <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>were</mark></a> five set @-@ matches ( 2007 and 2008 Wimbledon , 2009 Australian Open ) , with the 2008 Wimbledon final being lauded as the greatest match ever by many long @-@ time tennis analysts . Of their 34 meetings , 12 <a href='been_done' title='7'><mark>have</mark></a> reached a deciding set . They <a href='been_done' title='8'><mark>have</mark></a> also played in 10 Masters Series finals , including their lone five @-@ hour match at the 2006 Rome Masters which Nadal won in a fifth @-@ set tie @-@ break , <a href='been_done' title='9'><mark>having</mark></a> saved two match points . 
Nadal lead their head @-@ to @-@ head 23 – 11 . Of their 34 matches , 15 have been on clay , which is by far Nadal  best surface . Federer got a winning record on grass ( 2 – 1 ) and indoor hard courts ( 5 – 1 ) , while Nadal lead da outdoor hard courts ( 8 – 2 ) and clay ( 13 – 2 ) . Because tournament seedings are based on rankings , 21 of their matches have been in tournament finals which done included an all @-@ time record eight Grand Slam finals . From 2006 to 2008 , they played in every French Open and Wimbledon final . They then met in tda2009 Australian Open final and the 2011 French Open final . Nadal won six of the eight , losing thdairst two Wimbledon finals . Three of these finals was five set @-@ matches ( 2007 and 2008 Wimbledon , 2009 Australian Open ) , w theda08 Wimbledon final being lauded as the dalest match ever by many long @-@ time tennis analysts . Of their 34 meetings , 12 done reached a deciding set . They done also played in 10 Masters Series finals , including their lone five @-@ hour match at the 2006 Rome Masters which Nadal won in a fifth @-@ set tie @-@ break , done saved two match points .