World No. 1 Rafael Nadal will play Stanislas Wawrinka in theAustralian Open final after defeating Roger Federer 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3 in a stunning display on Friday night in Melbourne. Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Pete Sampras were courtside to witness the Spaniard produce a ruthless performance, punctuated with remarkable passing shots, to which Federer had no answer.
Nadal recorded his fifth win in a row over Federer to advance to his 19th Grand Slam championship match. Playing in 19 major finals ties Nadal in second place with Ivan Lendl. Federer tops the all-time list with 24 final appearances.
The Spaniard is bidding to win his 14th major title and his second at Melbourne Park, having beaten Federer in the 2009 final. He also finished runner-up in 2012, losing out to Novak Djokovic in just under six hours in one of the greatest ever Grand Slam finals.
Nadal has a commanding 12-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record over Wawrinka, who advanced to his first major final by beating three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals and Tomas Berdych in the semis.
Nadal improved to a 19-3 record in Grand Slam semi-finals and a 23-10 record over Federer as he claimed victory in two hours and 23 minutes. He will look to make history in the final by becoming the first man in the Open Era to win all four Grand Slam singles titles twice.
Federer was left to rue 24 unforced errors in the first set as he fell behind in the pair’s 33rd meeting. He had saved two break points in the seventh game and a third in the ninth game to force a tie-break, but Nadal dictated from the baseline to surge into a 5-1 lead. Federer fought back to 5-4, but Nadal earned two set points with a big forehand into the corner and converted his first as Federer went long on a backhand.
No matter what Federer threw at Nadal in the second set, it came back at him with interest. The Spaniard had treatment on the blister on his left hand after the first game, but was seemingly unaffected as he went after Federer in the sixth game. Federer was rewarded for aggressive play on three break points, but it only delayed the inevitable.
Nadal engineered a 15/40 lead in the sixth game with a remarkable forehand pass, played from behind him after Federer had seemingly salvaged the point with a deep forehand volley. This time there would be no escape for Federer. Nadal gained his first break of the match with a forehand winner into the corner. The Spaniard trailed 0/30 as he served for the set, with Federer attacking relentlessly, but reeled off four straight points to take the set.
Federer was in trouble early in the third set as he netted a backhand volley to lose his serve in the third game. But the Swiss immediately worked his way back into the match, getting his first break points of the match after two hours of play when Nadal missed a forehand wide to go down 15/40. Federer came out on top in the following baseline exchange to draw level at 2-2, to the delight of the crowd on Rod Laver Arena.
Federer staved off another Nadal threat as he served at 2-2, holding from 15/40 down, but Nadal regained his lead in the seventh game as a Federer forehand clipped the top of the net and landed long. From there, Nadal made no mistake, breaking Federer again in the ninth game to triumph.
Federer had defeated three-time finalist Andy Murray in four sets to reach his 11th consecutive Australian Open semi-final. The 32-year-old Swiss was bidding to reach his 25th major final and win his 18th major trophy. The Basel native is a four-time champion at Melbourne Park, lifting the trophy in 2004, 2006-07 and again in 2010.
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