by Lisa-Marie Burrows
In another epic contest between arguably two of the greatest of all time players, world No.2 Rafael Nadal defeated his old nemesis Roger Federer 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in three hours and 42 minutes on a packed Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park Thursday.
Nadal recorded his 18th victory out of 27 meetings against the Swiss maestro to advance to the final for the second time on Sunday against the winner of Friday’s semifinal between Andy Murray and world No. 1 and defending champion, Novak Djokovic.
The beauty of watching these two players contest against each other on the court is that they never fail to bring out the best in each other – something which Nadal was unsuccessful in doing against Novak Djokovic last year after his six final defeats in 2011. But the Nadal that stepped onto the courts today was a man of sheer confidence, fully rejuvenated and his passion was clearly back.
Unfortunately for Federer, he was the one who experienced more difficulties – something unexpected after his flawless journey through the tournament. The normally flashy, infamous forehand of Federer failed to launch today and only ignited on a few occasions. Throughout the match, the sixteen-time Grand Slam champion committed 63 unforced errors and needed to change from his A Plan (attacking using the forehand) to Plan B (attacking the net and playing with more aggression).
Federer was able to take the first three games from the superior Spaniard, but eventually edged out the first set in a tiebreak. This seemed to bring the world No. 2 to life in the second set as he quickly stormed ahead to a 6-2 lead, retrieving impossible balls from the Federer racquet and often punished him with brutal passing shots as he volleyed at the net.
Nadal and Federer shared an equal break during the third set and both players screamed and pumped themselves up on the court – all the way to another crucial tiebreak. Federer’s forehand seemed to abandon him during this critical time and it was the Roland Garros champion who managed to steal the third set and have the two sets to one advantage.
The third set proved to be a similar story, but with Federer’s belief and shot making capabilities weakening, the Spaniard upped the ante and Federer could not fend off the break points he faced in the ninth game, which saw Nadal serve out for the match successfully and take the fourth set 6-4 after an unforced error from Federer’s forehand.
Each time these players face each other on a tennis court, it is TV gold. Both rivals on court never fail to produce a magnificent contest, often leaving the spectators wanting more and wondering how many more times they will witness these two great players fight it out on the tennis court again. Hopefully for those who love tennis and the sheer brilliance that these two champions bring to the court, there will be many more opportunities.
Nadal will certainly be seeking to reignite his performance from today to life the trophy for the second time in his career against either world No.1 Novak Djokovic or Britain’s Andy Murray, who will be vying to reach his fourth Grand Slam final. Either way, with so much at stake, it will certainly be a mouthwatering contest on Sunday.