Roger Federer
And the dream final it turned out to be. These two gentlemen, the two best players on the planet by a journey - five years apart but of exactly the same height and weight - are fitting of their berth in the final albeit in differing circumstances. Nadal swept through the tournament barely awaking from a coma before compatriot and good off-court friend Fernando Verdasco produced the match of a lifetime in front of a thrilled Rod Laver Arena crowd last night. It was the longest match in Aus Open history at 5hr 14min, and despite seeing some 95 winners blasted past him the world number one remained cool in the heat of the Verdasco force and still only committed 25 (to 76!) unforced errors for the 5-set marathon. He was caught napping a few times running around the backhand side with Nando utilising his massive forehand weapon to expose it, and he was often found far too deep behind the baseline. It was OK in that match as Verdasco is a reluctant volleyer, but Rafa must avoid such a tactic here against Roger because he knows one of the most accomplished net players in history will simply lick his lips at such opportunities. Federer, aside from his blip against Berdych in R4, has gone through almost flawless particularly in his matches against del Potro and Roddick, two big servers who saw first hand some of the magical and brilliance that Fed graced us with from 04-07. From the cracking serves under pressure, the big wrong-footing forehands, the deadly half-volley pick ups from the baseline to reply to the heavy return of the second serve and some of the exquisite touch at net - it was all on show. As he likes to do, Roger has progressed his form nicely throughout the tournament and if that's any indication, couple that with Nadal's relentless intensity and almost non-existence of any bad form, and we are set for a potential repeat of last year's Wimbledon classic. Federer leads the hard court battles 3-2, but interestingly the pair have never met in a Grand Slam on that surface. Nadal leads the Grand Slam meetings 5-2, but four were at the French Open where he is a 4-time undefeated champion and virtually invincible on the claycourts where admittedly Roger is at his weakest. The biggest thing for me here is the late finish for Nadal and the extra preparation Roger has. It's not so much physical as the Spaniard is the fittest and most physically brutal player on the tour, it's more the mental preparation required and Nadal would have not got to bed until probably 3am in the morning after he concluded interviews, press conferences etc. History will tell you that will really favour Federer, and any advantage that you give to the best player in history is always going to be a hard task to overcome. For me, the serving of Nadal here is critical - it has been wonderful all tournament and he's really improved the second ball with a lot of kick and spin almost Federer-like, but if the Swiss maestro can get on top of this area and dominate the rallies he will gain the upper hand. He has the better serve and will need to earn cheap points against the incredible defense of Nadal, and look to adopt his beloved dipping slice backhand to good effect to force the extreme grip of the world number one to have to hit up. Verdasco used it a bit last night, but it was always in response to Nadal's initial slice, he never himself instigated the change of pace or height over the net. On this surface, I just believe Federer will be aided by the extra speed and given the match is at night the ludicrous topspin that Rafael puts on his serve and groundstrokes will be somewhat reduced by the heavier conditions that should enable the ball to bounce a little lower than normal and into the hitting zone of Federer. We're set for a classic, and it's probably a match to avoid in betting terms for pure enjoyment of the match, but I'll be on the second seed in a 4-set nailbiter
And the dream final it turned out to be. These two gentlemen, the two best players on the planet by a journey - five years apart but of exactly the same height and weight - are fitting of their berth in the final albeit in differing circumstances. Nadal swept through the tournament barely awaking from a coma before compatriot and good off-court friend Fernando Verdasco produced the match of a lifetime in front of a thrilled Rod Laver Arena crowd last night. It was the longest match in Aus Open history at 5hr 14min, and despite seeing some 95 winners blasted past him the world number one remained cool in the heat of the Verdasco force and still only committed 25 (to 76!) unforced errors for the 5-set marathon. He was caught napping a few times running around the backhand side with Nando utilising his massive forehand weapon to expose it, and he was often found far too deep behind the baseline. It was OK in that match as Verdasco is a reluctant volleyer, but Rafa must avoid such a tactic here against Roger because he knows one of the most accomplished net players in history will simply lick his lips at such opportunities. Federer, aside from his blip against Berdych in R4, has gone through almost flawless particularly in his matches against del Potro and Roddick, two big servers who saw first hand some of the magical and brilliance that Fed graced us with from 04-07. From the cracking serves under pressure, the big wrong-footing forehands, the deadly half-volley pick ups from the baseline to reply to the heavy return of the second serve and some of the exquisite touch at net - it was all on show. As he likes to do, Roger has progressed his form nicely throughout the tournament and if that's any indication, couple that with Nadal's relentless intensity and almost non-existence of any bad form, and we are set for a potential repeat of last year's Wimbledon classic. Federer leads the hard court battles 3-2, but interestingly the pair have never met in a Grand Slam on that surface. Nadal leads the Grand Slam meetings 5-2, but four were at the French Open where he is a 4-time undefeated champion and virtually invincible on the claycourts where admittedly Roger is at his weakest. The biggest thing for me here is the late finish for Nadal and the extra preparation Roger has. It's not so much physical as the Spaniard is the fittest and most physically brutal player on the tour, it's more the mental preparation required and Nadal would have not got to bed until probably 3am in the morning after he concluded interviews, press conferences etc. History will tell you that will really favour Federer, and any advantage that you give to the best player in history is always going to be a hard task to overcome. For me, the serving of Nadal here is critical - it has been wonderful all tournament and he's really improved the second ball with a lot of kick and spin almost Federer-like, but if the Swiss maestro can get on top of this area and dominate the rallies he will gain the upper hand. He has the better serve and will need to earn cheap points against the incredible defense of Nadal, and look to adopt his beloved dipping slice backhand to good effect to force the extreme grip of the world number one to have to hit up. Verdasco used it a bit last night, but it was always in response to Nadal's initial slice, he never himself instigated the change of pace or height over the net. On this surface, I just believe Federer will be aided by the extra speed and given the match is at night the ludicrous topspin that Rafael puts on his serve and groundstrokes will be somewhat reduced by the heavier conditions that should enable the ball to bounce a little lower than normal and into the hitting zone of Federer. We're set for a classic, and it's probably a match to avoid in betting terms for pure enjoyment of the match, but I'll be on the second seed in a 4-set nailbiter
