Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal did not meet in 2018. Seventeen months since their last match-up, the storied rivals will go head-to-head for the 39th time on Saturday if they both win quarter-final matches at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. Federer faces unseeded Hubert Hurkacz and Nadal takes on No. 12 seed Karen Khachanov. Neither Federer nor Nadal has dropped a set this week and both men have been broken only once.
The fourth-seeded Federer has played five fewer sets than Hurkacz, who earned three-set upsets of No. 28 seed Lucas Pouille, No. 6 seed Kei Nishikori and No. 24 seed Denis Shapovalov. Hurkacz, 22, will be playing in his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final. Federer is appearing in his 83rd. The 37-year-old Swiss is playing the 1,453rd match of his career, but just his second against a Polish opponent. He beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 7-6(2) in the 2013 ATP Masters 1000 Rome quarter-finals.
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The second-seeded Nadal is 5-0 against Khachanov, including a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(7), 7-6(3) win in four hours, 23 minutes at the 2018 US Open. Despite that loss, Khachanov ended the season by beating four Top-10 players en route to the ATP Masters 1000 Paris title. Nobody has won more ATP Masters 1000 titles than the 33-time champion Nadal, who can also tie or pass Federer for the most ATP Masters 1000 wins. Federer has 367 ATP Masters 1000 wins and Nadal has 365 entering Friday.
View Friday's schedule at the BNP Paribas Open:
ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2019
STADIUM 1 start 11:00 am
H. Hurkacz (POL) vs [4] R. Federer (SUI)
Not Before 1:30 pm
[12] K. Khachanov (RUS) vs [2] R. Nadal (ESP)
[6] L. Kubot (POL) / M. Melo (BRA) vs N. Djokovic (SRB) / F. Fognini (ITA)
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