Mallorca, Spain – One is the king of grass, the other the king of clay. On 5/2/2007, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal played in a one of a kind match that is half grass and half clay in front of a sellout crowd of nearly 7,000.

“It’ll be fun to find out what it’s like to play on a court with mixed surfaces,” Said Federer. “And it ought to be interesting to see who chooses the better tactic.”

19 days and $1.63 million was needed to create the court. The organizers had to lay a brand new surface on the grass side of the court the night before the match after the original turf had failed to cope with the indoor location and fell victim to a plague of worms.

The players were given an extended two minutes during changeovers instead of the usual 90 seconds to change footwear.

Nadal comes from Mallorca and has the home-court advantage. The Spaniard prevailed 7-5 4-6 7-6 (12-10)

“It has been a nice experience, although before the match I thought it would be a disaster because I felt it would be very difficult for me to adapt to the court,” said Nadal. “I have had a good time and that is important. Both of us would like to repeat this experience because, although the match was not a real one, it allowed us to play for points without much tension and to play more relaxed.”

Here’s a clip of the actual match: