Rafa Nadal reached his 3rd Australian Open final & overall, his 19th grand slam final beating Roger Federer 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3 in 2 hours & 24 minutes to set-up a clash vs Stanislas Wawrinka on Sunday.
This was Rafa Nadal's 23rd win over Federer in 33 matches & his 8th match win at a grand slam in 10 matches at Grand slams vs Roger Federer.
This would be first time in over a decade that Roger Federer would be the No. 2 ranked Swiss player as his ATP Ranking would fall to No. 8 while Stan Wawrinka is assured of getting up to No. 5 in the ATP Rankings to be announced on 27th January, 2014, after Australian Open, read more about the ATP ranking scenarios post Australian Open, 2014 right here.
Roger Federer's ranking in the last 11 years has never fallen below #7 & this will be the first time after November, 2002, that Roger Federer will be ranked #8.
1st Set
Going in to this match, Roger Federer's service had been broken only twice in the whole tournament. Federer started confidently & had three comfortable service holds. Nadal's service also looked on song as the first 6 games went on serve without any break points.
Nadal had two break points in the 7th game, Federer managed to save. The Spaniard was able to put consistent pressure on Federer's backhand.
Nadal had another break point in the 9th game, but Federer managed to save it & the next 3 games went on serve as the first set went to a tie-breaker.
Tie-Breaker
Nadal got the first mini break after a forehand error by Federer, how ever Federer got the mini break back after a mis-hit by Nadal. A mis-hit by Federer ,then error with a volley, a forehand error & a backhand error gave 4 consecutive points to Nadal & he was 5-1.
Federer how ever, raised his game & won the next 3 points to make it 5-4. Just as we thought, momentum is shifting in Swiss's favor, Nadal won the next two points on his serve winning the tie-breaker 7-4.
The first set lasted 59 minutes & here are the 1st set stats -------
Clearly, the 24 unforced errors by Federer costed him the set, though, he gave a good fight to Nadal in the 1st set
Set-2
Nadal took a medical time out after the 1st game to get the blister on his hand treated.
The first three games went on serve. After the 3rd game, Federer complained to the chair umpire about Rafa Nadal's grunting & that probably, disturbed his concentration a bit. Federer had to face three break points in the 4th game, but the Swiss saved those after 4 deuces as it was 2-all in the 2nd set.
Nadal's service looked flawless, but Nadal was able to consistent pressure on Federer's service.
Nadal got the 1st break in the 6th game on his 2nd break point of the game as he got to a 4-2 lead. The next 3 games went on service.
Federer had an early opening by winning the first two points to make it 0-30 on Nadal's service in the 9th game as Rafa Nadal served for the set up 5-3. How ever, Nadal won the next 4 points & wrapped up the 2nd set 6-3 in 47 minutes.
Here are the 2nd set stats ------
Set-3
Rafa Nadal broke Federer's service in the 3rd game but how ever, Federer broke right back & it was 2-all. How ever, Nadal again had 2 break points in the 5th game, which Federer managed to save. How ever, two more errors by Federer in the 7th game gave Nadal the crucial break & 4-3 lead in the 3rd set.
Nadal won his next service game & it was 5-3. Federer had a 40-15 lead in the 9th game, but, Nadal broke Federer for the 3rd time in the match on his 2nd break point & won the match & the 3rd set 6-3 on his 2nd match point in 38 minutes.
Here are the overall match stats ----------
If Rafa Nadal wins the final vs Stan Wawrinka, he will become the second man in the open era after Rod Laver to win every grand slam twice.
In his on-court interview to Jim Courier, Rafa Nadal stated, "We have played at a lot of important times. Roger (Federer) is a great champion and it's an honour to be here with him."
On the hand: "There is too much talk about the blister. The blister is ok. The problem is the position of the blister. It is difficult to cover. To do normal life the blister is 100 per cent perfect. But to play best of five against the best players in the world is difficult. But I am happy now."
Scroll down for more pictures, video highlights, post match press conferences & more insights from the match.