On the stroke of midnight, he thrust his arms up and punched the air, sealing the victory that sets up the most anticipated semifinal at the Australian Open in quite some time.
Roger Federer did his part to put this in place. In the previous match on Rod Laver Arena, he beat 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, in a quarterfinal marking his 1,000th tour-level match.
A Federer-Nadal semifinal had been looming since the draw for the season’s first major - the first time the pair have been in the same half at a Grand Slam tournament since 2005.
Playing with a new racket and a heavily taped right knee, Nadal was at his demonstrative best, rallying after losing the first set to beat Tomas Berdych, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3.
Yelling “Vamos,’’ disputing line calls, pumping his arms after winning big points, and bounding around like a hyperactive kid, Nadal ripped winner after winner against Berdych in a 4-hour 16-minute display of pure intimidation.
He said he was nervous in the first set - he had lost in the quarterfinals two straight years - but by the third and fourth sets things had indeed changed.
“The character on court, the way to win the points . . . the level is very positive, much, much better than the end of the season,’’ he said. “Semifinals is fantastic result for me.’’
Federer finished his match with one of his classic, one-handed backhands against Del Potro, one of only two men who have beaten him in a major final. The other is Nadal, who has done it six times.
That lopsided record aside, there’s a touch of extra tension this time in this usually cordial rivalry. Nadal had told Spanish reporters during a discussion about player discontent that Federer liked to protect his reputation as a gentleman by saying nothing negative in public and letting others “burn.’’
Both have since played down the comments. Yesterday, Federer said it didn’t damage their relationship.
“No. No. Honestly, no,’’ he 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.’’
Sharapova set to face Kvitova
The women’s semifinals are set. Maria Sharapova remained perfect in Australian quarterfinals, defeating Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2, 6-3, early today. Sharapova has won all five quarterfinals she has contested at Melbourne Park and has advanced to the final twice, including when she won the title in 2008. The 24-year-old Russian, who has lost just 21 games in five matches, will play Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who ended the run of unseeded Italian Sara Errani with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the day’s opening match on Rod Laver Arena.
Defending champion Kim Clijsters will meet third-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the other semifinal. Clijsters had too much experience in a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over Caroline Wozniacki, who remains without a major title and will now lose her No. 1 ranking.
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