Evergreen rivals in game for the ages
RAFAEL NADAL reckoned he got to sleep at about 5am, having gone through the early stages of his recovery work after his Australian Open semi-final. By then Roger Federer was long tucked up, although he had stayed up beyond midnight to watch his old rival fight his way past Grigor Dimitrov. This morning Federer and Nadal will meet in a match for the ages as the season’s opening Grand Slam reaches its extraordinary climax. Nadal can get within two of Federer’s 17 Grand Slam titles if he wins today. But the 35-year-old evergreen Swiss was too diplomatic yesterday to divulge whether he was rubbing his hands with glee at the duration of Nadal’s semi-final. ‘I watched for the whole five hours,’ said Federer. ‘Usually I watch as a fan but I watched it half as a fan and half as an analyst because I know it could have an influence. Rafa is more of a favourite than I am. I didn’t expect big things here but from Rafa I did, because I know how good he is.’
Carlos Moya, Nadal’s fellow Mallorcan and former world No 1 who has joined his coaching staff, was optimistic that he will be able to perform at his best.
‘It really was a demanding match physically and mentally but Rafa has been able to recover well from these kind of matches,’ said Moya.
That being the case, this possibly-neverto-be-repeated occasion is very close to call as the Rod Laver Arena hosts its first men’s final since 2009 not featuring Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray or, more often, both. The man who Melbourne Park’s main court is named after seemed to be leaning towards Federer as the favourite, but would not be putting his house on it.
‘I think they both like this court, it’s a good speed for them,’ said the Australian legend. I think also that Nadal is probably serving as good as we’ve seen. The same thing applies to Roger, his game revolves more around the serve than it does with Nadal. If he serves well, then maybe Roger has an edge.’