Hard reality crushed a fairytale revival at Melbourne Park as a ruthless Rafa Nadal inflicted more grand slam agony on Roger Federer with a straight-sets rout yes-terday that booked his third Australian Open final.
New coach and a new racket for Federer amounted to little against the irrepressible Spaniard, who simply dominated to win 7-6 6-3 6-3 on a breezy night at Rod Laver Arena.
Not since the 2007 Wimbledon final has Nadal rolled over to his great rival Federer, and his sixth straight win in grand slams over the Swiss was among his most devastating.
Brushing off a crater-like blister on his racket hand, Nadal roared through in just two hours and 24 minutes and conceded only two break points as he set up the title-decider against Federer’s compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka.
“I played well tonight. I played probably my best match of the tournament,” Nadal told reporters after reaching his 19th grand slam final, equal second all-time with Ivan Lendl behind Federer.
“So very, very, very happy for this great news that I played my best match in that semi-final against Roger.
“I hit a few passing shots today that if you are not quick and playing with confidence, you cannot hit those shots.”
Injury and illness have blighted Nadal’s recent campaigns Down Under, but the rollicking victory put the Spaniard in the box seat for a long-awaited second title after his 2009 triumph at Melbourne Park.
For 32-year-old Federer, it was deja vu, and a stinging reality check after an encouraging run.
Slumping to 23-10 in his head-to-head record with Nadal, the loss was his first in straight sets in the majors against the Spaniard since the 2008 French Open, and continued his winless streak against him on grand slam hardcourts, the most democratic of surfaces.
The chip-and-charge game honed under mentor Stefan Edberg had helped him humble Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and fourth seed Andy Murray, but it came crashing head-long into Nadal’s left-hand forehand, invariably coming off second best.
There was no succour from the baseline either, as Nadal marshalled his brilliant defences and counter-punched with a dizzying array of winners.
In the face of all evidence, Federer denied the Spaniard had the ability to get into his head.
“Not necessarily. I enjoy playing against him because it’s always going to be on centre court, it’s always going to be a big story going into the match,” the 17-times grand slam champion told reporters.
“So that’s kind of what you train hard for. That’s where you want to be.
“I mean, it’s not as cool when you lose in straight sets.
“Wish I could have won here tonight and then given an all-Swiss final... that’s something I’ll regret, you know, for a long time.”
Attention now turns to the women’s singles final today, as Chinese fourth seed Li Na bids to win her first title at Melbourne Park in her third final against the giant-killing Slovakian, Dominika Cibulkova.