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History repeated itself yet again as one of the greatest players of all time, Roger Federer continued to be second best to the indefatigable bull-fighter Rafael Nadal on the biggest stage of them all. In a semi-final contest replete with moments of sublime skill and relentless pursuit, the No.2 seed and 2009 Australian Open champion Nadal prevailed over the 16-Slam winner, Federer, in 4 high quality sets.

It was a combination of Federer’s inconsistency and Nadal’s tremendous retrieval skills which decided the match in the Spaniards favour. Federer’s game-plan to counter Nadal remained the same - pressurize the Nadal backhand and come in to the net as much as possible. The aggression, reflected in 46 winners produced from the Federer racquet, though was not good enough as the Spaniard was as always running down every ball and literally manufacturing winners on both flanks. Add to that the outrageous figure of 63 - Federer’s unforced error count – and what you get is a perfect recipe for finishing well short of the finish line. In the end, Nadal registered his 8th win in 10 Grand Slam meetings against the great one, and booked his place in Sunday's Australian Open final.

Roger started the match like a house on fire, racing to a 3-0 lead on the back of an early break. Nadal finally managed to get himself on the board in the 4th game and with the unforced errors on the decline after a nervy start, the match settled into a predictable rhythm. The first sign of trouble for Federer came in the seventh game as a couple of unforced errors, including a missed volley gave Nadal a rare break point. The Spaniard needed no second invitation ripping a passing shot to bring the set right back on serve. The sparring continued as the players took the set into a tiebreak with Roger picking up the mini-break to nudge ahead 4-1. That lead soon became 6-3, but Nadal hung in to save the two set points on his serve. However, a disappointing unforced error on the third allowed Federer to just about take the opening set 7-5.

The Swiss maestro started off the second set with the same class with which he ended the first, breaking Nadal's first service game  with some majestic hitting which included an incredulous slice. Nadal though returned the favour in the next game, breaking Federer right back levelling the set at 1-1. The set went on serve till the sixth game when Federer served at 0-30. In probably the best rally of the match, after being on the backfoot for most part of the point, the Spaniard produced an unbelievable running forehand winner from well outside the tramlines. He went on to win that game and broke the Federer serve again in the eighth game to pocket the set 6-2.

There seemed to be a dip in Federer's concentration at the beginning of the third set as he lost seven consecutive points and fell behind 0-40 on his serve. That's when he got his act together and after missing two chances, eventually took that game and restored parity at 1-1. Both players looked a bit edgy during the middle of the set, with Federer looking a bit indecisive in his shot selection and Nadal making a few uncharacteristic errors. An error prone Nadal dropped his serve in the seventh game but just like in the opening few games of the second set, Federer couldn't consolidate the service break and Nadal managed to make it 4-4. The set eventually found its way into yet another tie-breaker. In no time, the Spaniard raced to a 6-1 lead with some aggressive play before Federer mounted a spirited fightback to reduce the margin to 5-6. However, Nadal delivered a good first serve and a clinical backhand cross-court when it mattered the most to wrap up the tie-breaker 7-5.

With the four time champion down 2 sets to 1, it was crucial for him to begin the fourth set on the right note. And Roger did begin well, winning the first game on his serve comfortably. Nadal though was in no mood to allow for a slip up in his rhythm, and maintained a high first serve percentage of 78 right throughout the set. The turning point in the evenly contested set came in the ninth game when Nadal just about converted every defensive position into offense with tremendous all court coverage. The Federer serve was put under pressure and the Swiss had no answer to Nadal's deep forehands as he lost his service game and fell behind 4-5, giving Nadal a chance to serve out the set and the match. And though Federer threw the kitchen sink at the Spaniard in the 10th game, the Spaniard saved two break points and after 3 hours and 42 minutes on court emerged victorious 6-7 6-2 7-6 6-4.

Rafa’s opponent in Sunday's final will be the winner of tomorrow's semi-final between world no.1 Novak Djokovic and 2-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray.

Score

(2) Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. (3) Roger Federer (SWI) 67(5) 52 76(5) 64

File Photograph Copyright: Australian Open