Federer and Nadal advance to Shanghai Masters showdown

For the 38th time in their illustrious careers, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will meet on a tennis court. Nadal, the top seed at the Shanghai Masters, will take on Federer, who is seeded second, on Sunday in the final.

Shanghai Masters top seed Rafael Nadal is seeking his second tournament victory in as many weeks. Reuters/Jason Lee

The 31-year-old Spaniard is seeking a seventh title in 2017. On Saturday in the first semi-final, he beat Marin Cilic from Croatia 7-5 7-6 in two hours and 11 minutes to advance to the final.

The Swiss came from a set down in his semi-final to see off the Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 3-6 6-3 6-3 in just under two hours and gain some measure of revenge for del Potro’s victory over him at the US Open in September.

Federer, 36, beat Nadal to claim the Australian Open in January. He also overcame him to take the Miami Masters in April.

But Nadal is the master in the head-to-heads. He has won 23 of their 37 encounters and will go into their 38th duel as the form player having won the China Open in Beijing last week.