Rafael Nadal’s rousing revival could lead to him overhauling Roger Federer as greatest of all time
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Updated 27/01/2017 at 17:22 GMT
Despite the romance enveloping Roger Federer's reflowering Down Under, Rafael Nadal should be powerful enough to win the 15th Grand Slam of his career in Melbourne, writes Desmond Kane.
pain's Rafael Nadal takes a break during his Men's singles quarter-final match against Canada's Milos Raonic.
Image credit: Eurosport
In a sport seemingly erected on a smorgasbord of statistics, it remains one of the more peculiar ones.
How can Roger Federer, the most prolific major winner in tennis with 17 Grand Slams under his reinvigorated headband, be regarded as the greatest of all time when he has a 23-11 losing record against Rafael Nadal in head-to-heads?
Federer’s gorgeous movement, his swashbuckling groundstrokes and a tennis touch as valuable as the Victorian Gold Rush, is in direct contrast to his strapping nemesis, whose heavy-hitting gait appears to strain every sinew for success. Sometimes to Nadal’s eternal detriment. Certainly to how history views him.
As we have enjoyed in his scrap to the semi-finals, particularly in a foraging five-set win over Alexander Zverev in the last 32, Nadal’s game is mined out of the clay of his native Mallorca, based on will to win, his being as a genuine force of nature and brute force from the baseline.
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Yet substance tends to win out over style whenever Nadal confronts Federer. Which could be for the ninth and last time in a Grand Slam final on Sunday.
With 17 Grand Slams claimed since 2003, and an 18th possibly looming large, the 35-year-old Roger Federer, seeded 17th after recovering from a knee problem, has gone above and beyond what a normal professional should be expected to eke out of a career. If he conquers Melbourne for a fifth time, he astonisingly becomes the second oldest winner of a Slam behind Ken Rosewall's Aussie Open success at the age of 37 in 1972.
But romance rarely wins in sport. If Federer is poetic, Nadal is potent. Nadal is seeded ninth, well outside of the game's frazzled big four, but will emerge on Rod Laver Arena on Friday morning for his semi-final with Grigor Dimitrov knowing he is the favourite to win a second Australian Open.
His shredding of a nervy world number three Milos Raonic in three sets in the quarter-finals hints at good times ahead this weekend.
Since Nadal claimed his solitary Australian Open in 2009 by consigning Federer to tears with victory in five punishing sets, he has felled the Swiss player 11 times, losing only four match to his great nemesis in the past eight years.
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As the pair have grown older, Nadal has grown wiser, losing only sporadically to Federer. He has emerged dominant in Melbourne, winning all three of their meetings. Despite the accepted wisdom, the fastest court in tennis seems to suit him against Federer as much as Philippe Chatrier in Paris.
It is opportunity knocks for all three remaining figures, but none more so than Nadal, whose self-belief is back to the levels when he last reached the last four in Melbourne usurping Federer three years ago before claiming the last of his 14 majors in Paris. His bottles are always lined up, but his ducks are in a row.
"Rafa has presented me with the biggest challenge in the game," said Federer after his win over fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, hinting at the discomfort he has found in direct confrontation with Nadal.
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Rafael Nadal consoles Roger Federer beating him in the 2009 Australian Open final
Image credit: Reuters
I'm his number one fan. His game is tremendous. He's an incredible competitor. I'm happy we had some epic battles over the years and of course it would be unreal to play here. I think both of us would never have thought we would be here playing in the final.
Not only does he possess a formidable winning record against Federer in Australia, he has lost only once in eight meetings to Dimitrov since 2009.
If Nadal was given a desirable route to the Australian Open final, avoiding the agony of confronting the world's leading stamina men in Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, this merely gives further reason to shout 'Vamos Rafa'.
Wins over the technically astute but less punishing Dimitrov and Federer would see Nadal move beyond Pete Sampras on to 15 Grand Slams, only two short of Federer’s landmark haul.
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Nadal: I was lucky in the second set with all the set points
This bizarre major of the game's elder statesmen is almost turning into a two-shot swing. If Federer wins on Sunday, he moves four clear of Nadal and perhaps out of sight forever, but the gap could easily be two before Sunday evening is out.
Dimitrov, named 'Baby Fed' for his style in his formative years, won in Brisbane before Melbourne. He could finally make good on his early promise by rising to a first Slam at the age of 25. He is more likely to provide Nadal with a timely glimpse of what lies ahead in the final.
The greatest tennis rivalry of a generation between two men who feared injuries and age had ended such aspirations, could have one last glorious day in the sun. A tennis match for the ages awaits millions worldwide.
Yet the narrative stretches beyond Melbourne. At the age of 30, if Nadal wins two more matches, he will head for his favourite Grand Slam in May pursuing a 10th French Open with the summit suddenly back in sight.
Aesthetics are futile. The statistics suggest his flagging pursuit of Federer may be reborn Down Under.
Desmond Kane
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