10 Things to Know About Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal Rivalry

It was a match-up everyone was waiting for when the draw was made, and now it’s here - Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have made their way into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, and now they’ll battle it out for a spot in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 event.

Here are 10 Things To Know about this blockbuster clash between two of the sport’s legends:

1. This is a rematch of their epic Australian Open final.

A little over six weeks ago, Federer edged Nadal in an absolute dream final Down Under, reeling off five games in a row from 3-1 down in the fifth set to take the match, 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3, and claim a record 18th career Grand Slam title.

2. There are a record 32 combined majors in this match-up.

With 18-time Grand Slam champion Federer playing 14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal, there will be a combined total of 32 Grand Slam titles on the court in this match-up. It’s the most ever for a men’s match in tennis history.

3. Nadal leads the head-to-head, 23-12, but…

Things are much closer on hardcourts (Nadal leads 9-8), in best of three sets format (Nadal leads 12-8) and, perhaps most importantly, at Indian Wells (they’re tied 1-1, Federer winning in the 2012 semifinals and Nadal winning in the 2013 quarterfinals).

4. This is just the third time in 36 career meetings they’re playing before the quarterfinals.

The first two times were at Miami all the way back in 2004 (with Nadal winning a third round match, 6-3 6-3) and at the ATP World Tour Finals in 2011 (with Federer winning a round robin match, 6-3 6-0).

5. Federer has never beaten Nadal three times in a row.

With wins at Basel in 2015 and the Australian Open this year, this is the third time Federer has had back-to-back wins over Nadal - he did it once in 2006 and once in 2007. But he’s never made it three in a row… can he pull that off on Wednesday?

6. They’ve both won multiple Indian Wells titles.

They’ve won a combined total of seven titles here, Federer four titles (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2012) and Nadal three titles (2007, 2009 and 2013).

7. Losing before the quarterfinals here isn’t normally in their vocabulary.

Federer’s reached the quarterfinals or better in 10 of his last 12 appearances at Indian Wells (he lost to Canas in the second round in 2007 and to Baghdatis in the third round in 2010) and Nadal’s reached the quarterfinals or better in 10 of his last 11 appearances here (he lost to Dolgopolov in the third round in 2014).