Nadal Sets Up Federer Match at Australian Open
Four-Time Champion Roger Federer
Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images
Roger Federer, who has won a men’s record 16 Grand Slam singles tennis titles, fired 38 winners against 11th-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro to win 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 and reach the semifinals at Melbourne Park for a record-extending ninth straight year.
Roger Federer, who has won a men’s record 16 Grand Slam singles tennis titles, fired 38 winners against 11th-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro to win 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 and reach the semifinals at Melbourne Park for a record-extending ninth straight year. Photographer: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images
Rafael Nadal fought back to beat Tomas Berdych in four sets and set up an Australian Open semifinal against Roger Federer, their first final-four meeting at a Grand Slam tennis tournament in seven years.
Nadal, the No. 2 seed from Spain, won 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2009, when the 10-time major winner took the title with a five-set victory over Federer.
“I resisted very well in the third and the fourth sets after three hours of intense battle,” Nadal said in a televised court-side interview after beating No. 7 seed Berdych in 4 hours, 16 minutes. “I’m very happy how I finished my match physically. It was very important to keep running with high intensity and that’s very important on these kind of matches.”
Federer of Switzerland beat No. 11 seed Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in straight sets in his 1,000th career singles match earlier yesterday. Women’s defending champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium and third-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka advanced to a semifinal meeting.
Nadal spent more than two hours more on court than Federer in his quarterfinal, with the first two sets alone taking nearly 2 1/2 hours. The match finished at midnight local time.
After the first set, Nadal started to move in closer during Berdych’s serve.
“I was trying to find a solution because I felt in the first two sets I didn’t have a lot of chances to play a lot of points when he was serving,” Nadal said.
Opening Set
Berdych took the opening set in 75 minutes after Nadal had saved four set points to take it to a tiebreaker. The Czech bought up his fifth set point with a forehand that Nadal wasn’t allowed to challenge because the chair umpire said he’d waited too long and then wrapped up the tie-breaker with an ace.
The second set went to another tie-breaker, which Berdych was one point away from winning when he put a volley wide. Nadal took the next two points to pull even and recovered from 0-2 down in the third set, which he secured with an overhead volley that prompted him a loud roar of celebration.
The Spaniard crunched a running forehand pass down the line to break in the next game and held for a 2-0 lead to take control of the fourth set.
Federer, 30, who has won a men’s record 16 Grand Slam singles titles, fired 38 winners in his 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory against Del Potro to reach the semifinals in Melbourne for a record-extending ninth straight year.
2005 Meeting
For the first time since the 2005 French Open, Federer and 10-time major champion Nadal are on the same side of the draw at a Grand Slam, meaning only one of them can reach the Jan. 29 final. Federer said after beating Del Potro that he wanted to play Nadal in the semifinals.
“It’s been a long time,” Federer told reporters. “We have been on opposite sides of the draw many times. I’d like to play Rafa because of our great epic match earlier in the finals here a few years ago. I’d like to get a chance to play him again here.”
Federer took the first set with his second break of service when Del Potro double-faulted on set point, and broke again in the fourth game of the second set with a half-volleyed backhand winner down the line. He saved four break points when trying to serve out the set before holding for a two-set lead.
Federer went 2-0 up in the third set and manufactured his fifth service break to earn the right to serve for a semifinal spot, converting on his first match point with a backhand winner.
Clijsters Win
Clijsters earlier knocked Caroline Wozniacki out of the WTA’s No. 1 ranking by beating the Dane 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to set up a final-four matchup against Azarenka.
Clijsters, who saved four match points and overcame an ankle injury againstLi Na of China in the previous round, overpowered Wozniacki to extend her record in quarterfinals at Melbourne Park to 7-0. She hit 39 winners, three times as many as her opponent, as the temperature reached 35 degrees (95 degrees Fahrenheit).
“It was so hot out there, I think one of the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in,” Clijsters told reporters. “It was good to win that in two sets at the end.”
Clijsters is seeking her fifth major title to start what she has said probably will be her final season on the tour.
The Belgian took the opening set with a forehand pass on her fourth set point after a nine-minute game. After squandering two breaks of service in the second set, Clijsters got to 5-4 in the tiebreaker and wrapped up the victory with two forehand winners.
Wozniacki’s loss means she’ll lose the No. 1 ranking, with Azarenka, Maria Sharapova of Russia and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic all having a chance to take the top spot.
“We are just in January,” Wozniacki said. “In the end of the year you see who has played the best, most consistently all year round. I will get it back eventually.”
Azarenka earlier fought back to beat No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-7 (0-7), 6-0, 6-2 and reach the final four of a major for the second time after Wimbledon last year.
“It was very important to see how I could adjust after not playing really well in the first set,” Azarenka said after lifting her winning streak in 2012 to 10 matches. “I completely turned it around.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Baynes at Melbourne Park at dbaynes@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net
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