Chris Maduewesi
Member
It was a familiar story for Rafael Nadal as he rolled over arch-rival Roger Federer to qualify for the finals of the Australian Open tennis tournament.
Despite the blisters that plagued Nadal,the Spaniard didn't look uncomfortable with it as he effortlessly saw off the challenge of his Swiss counterpart,wining in a straight sets victory 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-3.
Both players battled it out in the first set which was settled in a tie-breaker,they were both edgy and not giving rooms for errors as none could break each other's serve in the game.
But after conquering in the first set,it was all Nadal as he completely took control,forcing Federer to make so many errors that cost him dearly.
Speaking after the game,Nadal said: "First of all playing with Roger is a special feeling," said the Spaniard. "He's probably the opponent when I go on court I get emotional feelings.
"We've played a lot of times for important matches. He's a great champion and it's a great honour to be in the same era like him."
"In the first set was tough," adds Nadal. "It's true I had a few break points before the tie-break and I think we played really tough rallies at the end of the first set and I think I resisted well.
"He was taking the ball early, it was a difficult thing, I tried to resist. Tonight I played the best match of the tournament so I'm very happy for that. Too much talk about the blister. The blister is OK. The problem is the position of the blister. it's difficult to cover. We try to make bandage shorter so I'm very happy."
In Sunday's final Nadal will now come against another Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka,who is making his appearance in a major finals.
And the 27-year old added that it is not going to be easy as most people think it would be.
"I have a tough opponent in front [of me]. Wawrinka is playing amazing, he should come to this final with big confidence.
"I never thought about having 13 Grand Slams so I never thought about having 14. The one thing I can swear is that I'm going to try my best. I need to keep playing great. His serve is huge, and he's hitting the ball really hard. I need to play aggressive and play the same way I played tonight."
Despite the blisters that plagued Nadal,the Spaniard didn't look uncomfortable with it as he effortlessly saw off the challenge of his Swiss counterpart,wining in a straight sets victory 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-3.
Both players battled it out in the first set which was settled in a tie-breaker,they were both edgy and not giving rooms for errors as none could break each other's serve in the game.
But after conquering in the first set,it was all Nadal as he completely took control,forcing Federer to make so many errors that cost him dearly.
Speaking after the game,Nadal said: "First of all playing with Roger is a special feeling," said the Spaniard. "He's probably the opponent when I go on court I get emotional feelings.
"We've played a lot of times for important matches. He's a great champion and it's a great honour to be in the same era like him."
"In the first set was tough," adds Nadal. "It's true I had a few break points before the tie-break and I think we played really tough rallies at the end of the first set and I think I resisted well.
"He was taking the ball early, it was a difficult thing, I tried to resist. Tonight I played the best match of the tournament so I'm very happy for that. Too much talk about the blister. The blister is OK. The problem is the position of the blister. it's difficult to cover. We try to make bandage shorter so I'm very happy."
In Sunday's final Nadal will now come against another Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka,who is making his appearance in a major finals.
And the 27-year old added that it is not going to be easy as most people think it would be.
"I have a tough opponent in front [of me]. Wawrinka is playing amazing, he should come to this final with big confidence.
"I never thought about having 13 Grand Slams so I never thought about having 14. The one thing I can swear is that I'm going to try my best. I need to keep playing great. His serve is huge, and he's hitting the ball really hard. I need to play aggressive and play the same way I played tonight."