Federer & Nadal To Resume Rivalry In Semis

As expected, Roger Federer takes on Rada Nadal, while number one Novak Djokovic meets Andy Murray in the semi-finals at the 2012 Australian Open.

Perhaps more surprising is the fact that three of the top four women’s seeds have progressed to the semi-finals too, with only number one Caroline Wozniacki missing out after losing to 13th seed Kim Clijsters in the quarters.

Returning to the men’s side, though, the semi-final match up between Federer and Nadal is the most tantalising. Incredibly, it’s only the second grand slam semi-final clash between the two. The first was way back in 2005 at the French Open, when Nadal won.

“We have been on opposite sides of the draw many times,” Federer said. “I didn’t even play (Andy) Murray last year because we were ranked I guess three and four, so we always ran into Novak (Djokovic) or I basically always ran into Novak.

“I guess it’s a nice changeup… but I think it’s good for tennis that it changes up a bit.”

Whether it is a nice changeup is up for discussion, after some comments Nadal made in the Spanish media claiming Federer tried to protect his gentleman’s reputation by never saying anything negative about other players publicly but letting them ‘burn’. It was an interesting twist, but both have played down the comments as well as the rivalry.

“No. No. Honestly, no,’’ Federer said. “It was here for one day and then gone again. I’m happy about that because it didn’t deserve more attention than it did. So for me, it’s another great match with Rafa.’’

Whatever the case, the pair are two great tennis players with a total of 26 Grand Slams already between them and Nadal admitted it’d be a huge tussle.

“We talk about a player who won 16 grand slams and I have won 10 and we played a lot of matches between each other, all (were) very important for our careers,” Nadal said.

“Every match is different, and I know I will be on court playing against probably the best (player) of history. So obviously my only chance to win is play aggressive, play very well, and to play to a limit. That’s what I gonna try.”

Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Maria Sharapova will meet Petra Kvitova and Kim Clijsters will take on Victoria Azarenka.

The Russian number four seed will be out to avenge Kvitova’s Wimbledon success last year when she defeated her in the final.

Kvitova had trouble getting past Sara Errani in the quarters and appears still to be getting used to her status as a Grand Slam winner.

“Of course you have a little pressure on your back because you have a grand slam and everybody is expecting that you win all your matches when you play,” Kvitova said.

On the other hand, Sharapova said: “It will certainly be tough. I’ve lost to her the last couple of times, obviously the big one in Wimbledon where she played really well. I think she’s the one to beat right now, playing the best tennis in her career.”