And that’s how #Fedal38 came to pass. Roger Federer breezed past world No 1 Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the final of Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 on Sunday. The scoreline – 6-4 6-3 – tells you how dominant Federer was in his fifth consecutive win over his friend and rival from Spain. In the decade and a half of rivalry, this is the first ever time Federer has managed to win five matches in a row against Nadal.

In the course of his sixth title in 2017, Federer racked up some pretty impressive numbers. It was a 94th title for the Swiss legend, drawing him level with the great Ivan Lendl, and was a fifth victory in a row against world number one Nadal.

Nadal was ahead in their overall record down the years, with 23 wins to Federer’s 14, but he was up against it almost right away.

Here’s how their head-to-head record stands now:

“We didn’t think maybe we were going to have the year we did, I definitely didn’t,” Federer said on court afterwards, looking at Nadal, reflecting on their continued success even at this late stage of their careers. “It’s nice to share this court with you today and I hope there are more to come in the tournaments we’ve got left.”

Some statistics

As with every Fedal clash, there was a lot of chatter on social media during and after the showdown in Shanghai.