Nadal Beats Federer, Continues One-Sided Rivalry

The one-sided rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal continues. Nadal beat Federer today in 4 sets at the Australian Open 2012, winning 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4. So dominant is this rivalry that Nadal has now won 8 of the 10 times they’ve met at Grand Slams. Overall, they’ve met 27 times, Nadal winning on 18 occasions. It’s not even close.

As in the French Open last year, Federer started strongly in the first set, breaking Nadal and taking the game to the Spaniard with forceful, ultra-attacking play. Unlike the French Open match, Federer did finally manage to win the first on a tie-break, although he had let Nadal back into it. And Nadal was never going to lie down, especially not with the head to head record he holds over Federer, so he came out charging in the second set, breaking Federer twice in wining it 6-2 and levelling the match. The third set proved to be telling, as Nadal took a tight set 7-6. Federer tried to cling on in the fourth but Nadal broke at the crucial time and won 6-4.

The problem for Federer is that every time he seemed to go in front, Nadal would peg him back. This is not something you would expect from one of the world’s greatest servers. As others have commented over the years, Federer has a lot of respect for Nadal’s game, so much so that he allows Nadal back in. Also, to hit 63 unforced errors is to give the game away against Nadal. There is still time for Federer to win another Grand Slam at least but he must start being a little less respectful and a lot more lethal. Nadal, meanwhile, is through to the final and will look to win his second Australian Open title.

Source: The Guardian