Nadal sets up Australian Open SF showdown against Federer

Michelle Payne January 25, 2012 0

Nadal sets up Australian Open SF showdown against Federer

MELBOURNE: Roger Federer took revenge of his US Open 2009 final defeat from the hands of Juan Martin Del Potro on Tuesday while Rafael Nadal outdid Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic to set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash at the Australia Open 2012.

Roger Federer, who is looking to win his record 17^th Grand Slam title which could be his fifth crown in Melbourne, literally outplayed his Argentinean opponent and defeated him in straight sets by 6-4 6-3 6-2

Federer, who was playing in his 1,000th tour match, never gave Del Potro any chance to dictate terms and used his sheer confidence and experience to beat not only his Argentinean opponent but also his nostalgia of his defeat in the 2009 US Open final.

However, Federer negated the impression of settling the score when he told reporters, “I didn’t look at this one as a statement win. I knew the danger of playing Juan Martin, so potentially it was my big test. I don’t think players are going to read into this performance much. I’m just happy I’m moving on and I’m in the semis already.”

Under the scorching sun at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday, Federer was in sublime form as he broke Juan Martin Del Potro in each set to stop any chance of his comeback.

Talking about his faults in the first set, Roger Federer told local media in the post-match press conference, “That’s why I didn’t celebrate when I won the set – just to make it up, you know It was a couple of big moments for me. I really knew how important that game was for me. I was honestly a bit scared to hit through it just because it was tough to see the ball out there with the sun coming in from the side.

Admitting that he wasn’t playing his best game, Federer said, “I was struggling as well with the serve just a little bit. I mean, photographers were having a blast. Every time I was tossing up the ball I heard about a hundred clicks, you know, so it was quite something out there. But I was able to come through and it was big.”

Roger Federer is notching up new records with each victory that he records as he secured the record 30^th Grand Slam Semi-Final which would be his ninth successive semi-final in Melbourne where he would be facing Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

Talking about his meeting with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer stated, “Obviously 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.”

In the other Quarter-Final match, Rafael Nadal had to work hard for his victory over Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in a four-set encounter which he eventually won by 6-7 7-6 6-4 6-3.

Nadal had to make a point in the second set where Tomas Berdych was serving for the game after taking the first set and the Spaniard did it in style prolonging the match to over four hours and with the passage of time he started finding his feat and composure to light up the frenzied Rod Laver Arena in the evening.