World No. 1 Rafael Nadal reached the final of the Australian Open by outlasting fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (1), 6-4 in an epic which lasted a tournament record five hours and 14 minutes on Friday. Nadal, the French Open, Wimbledon and the Beijing Olympics champion, will take on the long-time rival and world No. 2 Roger Federer on Sunday in his first final at Melbourne Park.
Spain's Fernando Verdasco returns the ball against his compatriot Rafael Nadal during the semifinal of men's singles at Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Jan. 30, 2009.
Both men hit top form quickly in the beginning of the match and held serve firmly until the tiebreak. Nadal made a quick start to the tiebreak by reaching a comfortable 3-1 lead, but Verdasco refused to be intimidated and evened the score before receiving a massive piece of luck, when his backhand hit the net and rolled over for two set points at 6-4. Verdasco grabbed the first chance to take the breaker 7-4 after an emphatic forehand volley winner.
The second set also looked to be headed towards a tie-break as both men continued to hold serve, despite Verdasco being forced to save four break points in the eighth game.
But Nadal managed to raise up his level in the tenth game, breaking to take the set at 6-4.
Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts after winning over his compatriot Fernando Verdasco during the semifinal of men's singles at Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Jan. 30, 2009.
The third set, however, saw both Nadal and Verdasco struggle to hold on to their serve with the players trading breaks twice, meaning the set had to be decided by a tie-break again. Nadal made a strong start, leading 4-1 and going on to take the tie-break at 7-3.
Despite suffering an obvious leg problem, Verdasco was still in top form in the fourth set and forced another tie-break.
Verdasco, 14th seeded in the tournament and about to move into top ten on the ATP rankings after the Australian Open, even looked rejuvenated in the breaker and hit a bunch of scorching winners from the baseline and at the net, to take the breaker at 7-1.
Nadal's superior fitness, both mental and physical, was finally demonstrated in the 10th game of the fifth set as he earned three match points after a clearly tired Verdasco made some mistakes.
Caption Spain's Rafael Nadal (L) embraces compatriot Fernando Verdasco after Nadal won their men's singles semi-final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne Jan. 30, 2009.
An exhausted Verdasco fired another double faults on the third match point to give the epic victory to Nadal, who said at the courtside after the match that Verdasco also deserved the win.