There’s no question that Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer is the best rivalry in tennis, but it might now be the best in all of sports. And it gets renewed on Sunday (late Saturday in the U.S.) in steamy Melbourne in the final of the Australian Open.
Federer might have a bit of an advantage heading into the final because he will be better-rested,and he is the -160 favorite on WagerWeb.com. He swept past Andy Roddick on Thursday in straight sets in the semis, while Nadal had to wait until Friday to face fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. And what a match that was.
It took 5 hours and 14 minutes, but Nadal outlasted Verdasco 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 6-4 in the longest match in Australian Open history. Now the world No. 1 will attempt to keep second-ranked Federer from tying Pete Sampras’ record of 14 major titles.
Nadal said it would be tough to recover for his first Grand Slam final on a hard court. He is the +125 WagerWeb.com underdog.
“Roger has a bit of an advantage over me,” said Nadal, whose previous best showing at the tournament was reaching the semifinals last year. “He’s resting right now. It’s tough to sleep after something like this. But I want to try my best. It’s very important for me to be in this final. Whatever happens on Sunday, I’ve started the season my best ever.”
Nadal has had Federer’s number in their careers, going 12-6, including that Wimbledon final last year that ranks as the single greatest tennis match ever. Ten of the meetings between the two have been on clay, with Nadal winning all but one – Federer’s win in the 2007 Hamburg Masters ended the Spaniard’s record, 81-game clay-court winning streak. Federer, however, has held the edge on hardcourt, and, until Nadal’s victory in that Wimbledon decider last season, completely dominated on grass.
“For sure I’d prefer another opponent,” said Nadal, 22. “But this makes the sport, finals like this.”
Federer, in fact, holds the record for consecutive victories on hard courts (56), but it was Nadal who ended that run. Amazingly, these two have never faced each other in any round at the Australian Open.
They last met on hard courts in Shanghai 14 months ago, a 6-4, 6-1 win for Federer that put him up three wins to Nadal’s two on the surface. Nadal is improving on the surface, going a tour-leading 46-10 on hardcourts in 2008 - including career-best semifinals at last year’s Australian and U.S. Opens and the Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
“People sort of forgot about him leading in but I think he’s been showing why he’s the best player in the world at the moment,” Federer, a three-time Australian Open champion.
Nadal is bidding to become the first Spanish champion at the Australian Open. He goes for his seventh Grand Slam title and holds a 4-2 edge over Federer in Slam finals.
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