Australian Open 2014: Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer - As it happened

Semifinal: Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer 7-6(4) 6-3 6-3

It was the match everyone wanted to see, but sadly, it didn’t live up to the hype. Coming into this match, there were doubts in the Nadal camp due to his lacklusture performance in his last two matches and a blister the size of a crater on his palm. Federer, on the other hand, appeared confident and had excellent outings against Tsonga and Murray, and he said he felt he was ‘back’ and had a game plan against Nadal, as suggested by Edberg.

However, the match unfolded in stark contrast to the pre-game talks, with Nadal never really in danger of losing the match at any point, except perhaps for the first set. Such was his dominance in rallies and passing winners that Federer could do little but watch. As the match progressed, the writing was on the wall for Federer, and Nadal accomplished the task in straight sets to go into his 19th Major final.

The match began with a quick start from both players. Federer seemed sharp and so did Nadal, and they held their opening games comfortably. Nadal hit a passing shot early on which Federer was barely able to touch, giving a hint of things to come.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 24: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning his semifinal match against Roger Federer of Switzerland during day 12 of the 2014 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 24, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

In the third game, Federer started doing what was expected of him – coming into the net on nearly every point on Nadal’s serve. Nadal was down 0-30, but did well enough to pass Federer and hit a forehand down the line winner to hold serve.

Nadal gave Federer a real scare at 3-3. He passed Federer yet again and had two break points, but some good serving and errors from Nadal helped Federer to win the game. But the message was clear – if you come to the net, I will pass you, time and again.

Nadal held serve and again put the pressure on Federer. The tried and tested strategy of attacking Federer’s backhand was in full flow, and Federer was having discomfort with it as usual. Still, he managed to come out of it and lead 5-4.

As both players overcame minor setbacks to hold their service games, the set heat headed into a tie break.

In the tie break, Federer’s game broke down, while Nadal grew even more solid. At one point he led 5-1. Federer did manage to close the gap to 5-4, but you could see Federer was shaky and Nadal was relentless, winning all the long rallies. He closed the set when Federer hit a forehand long. First set Nadal.

Nadal started serving in the second set and after holding with some impressive rallies took an injury timeout. We almost forgot he was playing with the huge blister on his hand.

Nadal got dangerously close to a time violation, but he was not deterred by that. He held serve comfortably and started pushing Federer around trying to break him. At 2-1, Federer had to face multiple break points, but he successfully thwarted Nadal’s attack every time. A challenge on an ‘out’ call gave him the game.

In contrast, Nadal held his serve easily. Federer made some grotesque errors with his forehand and never really seemed like threatening Nadal’s serve.

Something had to give. Nadal held two break points yet again. Federer saved one. But on the second one, Nadal constructed the point incredibly well, and moved Federer around exactly where he wanted to, finishing with an inside-out forehand to finally break Federer.

Nadal then held serve commandingly and kept Federer out of it. Federer had a hint of a chance at 5-3, going up 0-30 on Nadal’s serve, but the Spaniard was just relentless with his attack to Federer’s backhand and as expected, took the second set 6-3.

Nadal started the third set in style, taking the opening game and then breaking Federer to take a 3-1 lead. Just when it seemed like it was a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ though, Federer reminded us why he’s a 17-time Slam champion. Taking advantage of a couple of errors from Nadal, he dug deep and broke Nadal to get back on serve.

Both men held serve, until Nadal put the gas on the throttle again. He was also helped by net cords a couple of times – first on a passing shot, and then when Federer’s forehand went long after it bounced off the tape. In no time, Nadal had the break and was two games away from victory.

He held to put Federer under pressure to stay in the match at 5-3. At this stage Nadal was passing Federer at will. Federer saved one match point, but he couldn’t save the second. When he made yet another forehand error, Nadal had sealed victory in a convincing fashion.

Ever the graceful champion, Nadal acknowledged how important Federer and his rivalry with him were in defining both their careers.

This victory puts Nadal one step away from a tantalizing piece of history – he has the chance to become the only man in the Open era to complete a double career Grand Slam. In his way stands another Swiss, another player with a one handed backhand. Stanislas Wawrinka has had a good tournament, but the fact remains that in his previous twelve encounters with Nadal, he hasn’t taken a set off him.

Into the finals, there is only one thing Nadal’s fans would want to say – VAMOS RAFA!