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The world number one from Spain, the unstoppable Rafael Nadal defeated compatriot Fernando Verdasco, seeded 14 for the tournment in an epic semi final by 6-7,6-4,7-6,6-7,6-4 in Australian Open.

The both played gruelling tennis for almost 5 and a half hours (314 mins) and at the end it was a double fault by Verdasco serving at 30-40 down 4-5 in the final set which winded up the match. That was a sad ending to a great semi final. The duo shosed impeccable physical and mental strength in the match.

The match had everything you would want. It was really hard to choose between the two. Verdasco hit 95 winners and still ended loosing,that tells you the quality of the match. Total points won were 193 to 192 in favour of Nadal. Both the players played amazing shots. They were drained of almost all their energy but somehow to everyone’s wonder, they managed to produce enough steam when it mattered, even in the fifft set,in the post 4 hour stages of the match. The WImbledon final last year between Nadal and Federer was also about 5 hours of time but we can not forget that they had rain breaks in between. These guys played exhausting tennis for continously 5 hours. Today’s match was itself worthy of a final.

Verdasco was in supreme form through out the tournament and he defeated one of the favourites and in form player, the Brit, Andy Murray en-route to the semis.

On the other hand you have Nadal. Man with the never-say-die attitude. He will chase any ball in the court. For him the point is not over till it changes the score board. He picks up impossible balls, which any other player would not even bother to chase. No matter how good your winner is, if he will try his best to reach out to it and put the ball in your court. He just makes you play an extra shot. The thing is, sometimes the opponent ends up hitting an unforced error which becomes a plus for Nadal as he wins a point which was almost gone. That also gives confidence to him and makes his opponent ponder what extra do they need to do? How much more virtual winners do they need to hit? Today also in this match, when Nadal was serving 40-30 at 3-4 in the fourth set, Verdasco hit 4 shots which would have been scorching winners against anyone but Nadal not only managed to keep the ball in play but also won the point on a magnificent pass. He can win a point from any part of the court. If you are thinking of winning a point from long rallies of him,forget that, he is un matched there.

It was a delight to watch the forehand of Nadal. That is a fiery and devastating weapon on tennis court today.

Im a huge huge fan of Federer but the shear guts of this man, Nadal, makes me his admirer. He has what it takes to beat a champion like Roger and keep him guessing.

That being said, what can Federer do to stop this incredible athlete? Im too small a person to comment on that, Federer knows better than any other man on earth but there are two aspects which are very important. His first serves in percentage. Though Federer has a great serve, can hit aces on his will but for beating Nadal, his 1st serves in should be high. He can also try chasing a few points like Nadal does. In my opinion,he tends to give away points easily. Its seems like he thinks,okay,this is strecthing for too long, I am a great player, I can win even if I let go this point, so lets play the next point. That can not be the case with Rafa. Apart from that, his game is just too divine. I watch him in awe.

I hope I will be writing a post about Roger winning his 14th slam after a great final on Sunday and there by equalling the great Pete Sampras’s record of most Grand Slam titles.

All the best wishes to you Roger.

Go Roger go!

Here are the higlights of the match:

(Sorry for the bad quality A/V)