Roger Federer leaves his fans dejected, as Rafael Nadal beats him in Australian Open

Roger Federer leaves his fans dejected, as Rafael Nadal beats him in Australian Open

Rafael Nadal once again proved to be a touch too good for Roger Federer in the semi-final of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday, January 26, 2012.

The world number two reached the final of the first grand slam this year, beating his nemesis by 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Federer started the match positively, breaking Nadal’s serve early. He had gained a 4-1 lead in the first set and looked solid until then. However, the Spaniard bounced back and got the break back, forcing the set into a tie-break.

Despite that, the Swiss player did not give up hope and won the tie-break, going one up in the match. 

Nadal was untouchable in the second set, winning it by 6-2. However, the competition between the two legends got intense in the third set. It was also decided on a tie-break, but the Spaniard proved to be victorious this time around.

Federer seemed to be under immense pressure after that and failed to bounce back in the match. He lost the fourth set 6-4, disappointing all his fans worldwide.

"I thought Rafa played well from start to finish, really," said Federer. "I started really well myself.  It was obviously a big set for me to win, and [I] missed obviously the opportunities in some of all the sets maybe. But Rafa did well to
hang in there. At the end [I] was a bit better. It was a tough match physically as well, but [it’s] only beginning of the season. I’m feeling all right, so it’s okay."

On the other hand, Nadal said, "I think he started playing aggressively. [A] very, very high level at the beginning of the match. But I really felt that when he plays like that, it’s almost impossible to rise there to that level. But after
the first three games I started to have the chance to hit balls, to play with a little bit [of] my rhythm, so I started to hit a few good forehands. After that moment I felt that the level started to be closer and closer."

Today’s match was the 27th Federer-Nadal clash and the latter gained an overall lead of 19-8.

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Posted by Waqar Masood on Jan 26 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry