Recap of the fiercest battles of 2012: Federer vs. Nadal – Australian Open 2012
Left-handed Spanish contender, Rafael Nadal, consolidated his four sets win against the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, in the semi-final round of the Australian Open 2012 held at the hard courts of Melbourne. After a tough battle
between the two opponents, Nadal penned down, 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4, to reach the title match of the Grand Slam tournament.
In a post match interview, Nadal said, “I am very happy about my results these two weeks. I did much better than I thought [I would, than] what I dreamed [about] three weeks ago. It's one of the victories that's going to stay in
my mind forever. It's a fantastic way to start the season. I think he started playing aggressively. But after the first three games I started to have the chance to hit balls, to play with a little bit 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.”
Federer commenced the match at a high-paced note. He secured 4-1 lead in the opener and made it impossible for Nadal to take over him. Towards the eighth game, the game started to pick momentum and eventually ended the set with
a tiebreaker. However, Federer gave his contender a tough response but as the contest continued, he started to lose his form.
The 26-year-old professional displayed an extraordinary performance and even though he was unable to secure the initial set, he picked up his pace later. He sustained his optimism and classic performance the entire time and did
not give his challenger a single chance to come on top.
The 31-year-old, Federer, secured a lower initial serve precision of 64 percent, thundering across 11 aces. He made five double faults at critical moments in the match and 63 unforced errors. He converted 57 of 86 first and 27
of 49 second serve points. Federer was only able to attain three of 10 serve breaks and his competitor claimed six of 16. On the other hand, the Spanish secured a better initial serve precision of 77 percent with four aces and just one double fault. He managed
to secure 75 of 109 first and 20 of 32 second serve deliveries in response.
The current world number two, Federer contested in his ninth consecutive Australian Open Grand Slam. Previously, he has managed to reach to the semi-finals for the ninth time and has bagged home four trophies.
Tags: