Federer Wins His 1,000th Match, Will Meet Nadal In Rare Semifinal For Pair at Australian Open

Roger Federer had a dominating win in his 1,000th career match and a more difficult workout for Rafael Nadal which set up a rare Grand Slam marquee semifinal that will happen between the former top-ranked players.

Four-time Australian Open champion Federer has advanced to his ninth straight semifinal at Melbourne Park over Juan Martin del Potro with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 quarterfinal win Tuesday, the man who beat Federer for the U.S. Open title in 2009.

Federer’s 1,000th match was similar to most matches in his career, dominating, no-nonsense from the start and landing some incredible shots.

“It’s a lot of matches and a lot tennis play,” said Federer, who is a record 16-time Grand Slam champion. “Either I have been around for a very long time or I’m extremely fit. You decide which way you would want to describe it. But I’m happy.”

In an often tempestuous night match held at Rod Laver Arena, Nadal advanced with a tough-fought 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3 win over Tomas Berdych.

Federer and Nadal, they were ranked 1-2 for several years, have been on opposite halves of the draw since the French Open in 2005. That was the last time the pair for a Grand Slam semifinal, with Nadal taking the win that year in four sets.

Defending women’s champion Kim Clijsters is still dealing with a left ankle injury, but advanced to an Australian Open semifinal against Victoria Azarenka the third-seed by beating No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Tuesday. Clijsters’ victory ensured that Wozniacki would lose her top ranking that she has held for most of the last 15 months.

Azarenka had the victory over No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-7 (0), 6-0, 6-2. Azarenka is just one of three women who could finish at No. 1 in Melbourne as Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova are the other two.

In the late match, in the first set, Nadal saved four set points including one on an amazing crosscourt passing shot on the 29th point of a rally. But Berdych held firm and won the ensuing tiebreaker.

During the tiebreaker, Berdych’s shot landed out, and Nadal returned it, then challenged the call. Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes would not allow the challenge because Nadal didn’t immediately stopp the play, but Nadal responded by saying he didn’t challenge immediately because he thought the linesman had called the ball out.

The replay showed the ball was out.

In the opening game of the fourth set, Nadal hit several consecutive down-the-line forehands to break Berdych’s service and the Spaniard was on his way to clinch the match in 4 hours, 16 minutes.

Federer’s career can be enhanced even more if he takes the title this year at Melbourne Park. His record in Grand Slam singles matches is 232-34 and he can overtake Jimmy Connors’ mark of 233 wins if he wins the title here.

On the other side of the men’s draw, the quarterfinals are on Wednesday with Andy Murray playing against Kei Nishikori of Japan and top-seeded Novak Djokovic will take on David Ferrer.

On Wednesday, the remaining women’s quarterfinals sees Sharapova playing Ekaterina Makarova, who wound up beating five-time champion Serena Williams in the fourth round, and No. 2 Kvitova will take on unseeded Sara Errani of Italy.

Clijsters has required treatment on her ankle since Sunday, when she injured it which forced her to save four match points in her fourth-round victory over French Open champion Li Na, a rematch of the 2011 final.

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