 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 <unk> 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 . 
