Rafael Nadal is one win away from becoming the first man in the open era to win every grand slam twice. He comfortably beat Roger Federer 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3 in a stunning performance.
This was not a Federer performance of his horrible 2013, he played quite well despite the score. It was all about the performance of Nadal, playing some wonderful passing shots. The first set was a tiebreak, but Nadal missed several break points. In the tiebreak, Federer fought back from 5-1 down to 5-4, but this wasn’t enough.
"I think I played probably my best match of the tournament." - Nadal
Into the second set, and Federer continued to be pressed heavily, saving 3 break points at 2-2, before being broken in his next service game after a delightful Nadal backhand.
The third set was a similar story. Federer dropped serve early, but smelt hope when he broke for the first time in the match. But, Nadal broke again and saw it out.
"I think Rafa did a good job of keeping the pressure on me," said Federer. "I might have gotten a little tired, maybe in the third set, but overall I'm very happy.
"Rafa played well and he played solid, so I don't have crazy regrets tonight other than maybe not having created more opportunities for myself. Rafa was his usual self, what I kind of expected.”
"I played well tonight," said Nadal. "I think I played probably my best match of the tournament. So I am very, very, very happy for this great news that I played my best match in that semi-final against Roger.
"He arrived to that match winning two great matches against [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga and Andy [Murray] two days ago. I am really very happy the way I played tonight, and it is a very special moment to have the chance to be in another final."
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