Tennis Tidbits: Rivalry, Respect, Roof

* Rivalry: On Sunday, the rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will be reignited once again as the duo meets for 20th time at the final of the Mutua MadrileƱa Madrid Open. Both dispatched their semifinal opponents in contrasting fashion yesterday (read related article).

The ATP World Tour website came up with this feature article titled “Rafa & Roger: The Rivalry” which chronicles each of these two players’ 19 past encounters. Nadal currently leads the head-to-head match record against Federer with 13 wins and 6 losses.

* Respect: World number one Dinara Safina feels that she’s not getting the proper “respect” as the top-ranked women’s player. She stated that it’s not just about winning Grand Slam titles but rather to be more consistent throughout the year. Safina has yet to win a Grand Slam but reached the finals twice (French Open 2008, Australian Open 2009).

Safina’s point got the support of Serbian Jelena Jankovic, a former number one who achieved the top ranking despite not winning a Slam. Check out the article HERE.

* Roof: Tennis great Andre Agassi expressed his excitement for being one of the first players to play under the newly constructed retractable roof in Wimbledon. The exhibition match took place on Sunday.Find out what happened as the roof closes at the All England Club.