Great rivals relishing next duel

Published on Thursday 26 January 2012 02:14

ONE of the great rivalries of modern tennis will be played out in the unfamiliar surroundings of the semi-finals at the Australian Open this morning.

Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, who have won 26 Grand Slam titles between them, are used to meeting in the finals of the four majors where Nadal holds a 6-2 record over his Swiss rival.

Their only Grand Slam semi-final showdown was at the 2005 French Open, which Nadal won.

“We have been on opposite sides of the draw many times,” Federer said. “I didn’t even play [Andy] Murray last year because we were ranked I guess three and four, so we always ran into Novak [Djokovic] or I basically always ran into Novak. I guess it’s a nice change-up… but I think it’s good for tennis that it changes up a bit.”

The pair last met at the Australian Open in 2009 when Nadal won an epic five-set battle that reduced Federer to tears on Rod Laver Arena and the Spaniard said the match would be special no matter what ranking each man held in the world.

They will meet in the Rod Laver Arena, with the Australian great in attendance – partly to celebrate 50 years since he completed his first Grand Slam of winning all four majors in 1962.

“We talk about a player who won 16 Grand Slams and I have won ten and we played a lot of matches between each other, all [were] very important for our careers,” said Nadal, who came back after losing the first set to beat No 7-ranked Tomas Berdych 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3 in the previous round.

“Every match is different, and I know I will be on court playing against probably the best [player] of history. So obviously my only chance to win is play aggressive, play very well, and to play to a limit. That’s what I am going to try.”

There’s a touch of extra tension in their usually very cordial rivalry this time, with Nadal having told Spanish reporters during a discussion about player discontent that Federer liked to keep his reputation as a gentleman intact by saying nothing negative in public and letting others “burn”.

Both have since played the comments down, with Federer saying it didn’t damage their relationship.

“No. No. Honestly, no,” he said. “It was here for one day and then gone again. I’m happy about that, because it didn’t deserve more attention than it did.

“So for me, it’s another great match with Rafa. Obviously I’d like to play Rafa because of our great epic match earlier in the finals here a few years ago.”

Nadal has won 17 of their 26 head-to-head matches overall, but Federer won the last meeting, a 60-minute 6-3, 6-0 demolition at the season-ending championship in November.

l  Colin Fleming’s Australian Open campaign came to an end as he and American partner Liezel Huber lost their mixed doubles quarter-final to Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza.

Scot Fleming and Huber shared six breaks of serve with their Indian opponents in the opening set which went to a tie-break. Bhupathi and Mirza claimed it and then ran through the second set to secure a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 victory and a place in the last four.

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