Nadal Adds Aussie In Grand

Tennis Betting Lines

Nadal outdueled his great rival in five sets in the 2009 Aussie Open finale.

The second-seeded Nadal and No. 3 seed Federer are in the same half of the draw at a major for the first time since 2005. The two superstars have met in a men's record eight major finals, with Nadal going 6-2.

Federer, who hasn't won a Grand Slam event since titling here in Melbourne two years ago, has yet to drop a set at this latest Aussie fortnight and will appear in his ninth straight Aussie semi on Thursday.

The 22-year-old became the first Belarusian woman to reach a Grand Slam final since Natasha Zvereva did so at Roland Garros in 1988 when she was representing U.S.S.R.

In doing so, she ended another memorable performance Down Under by Clijsters, who has stated she will retire after the Summer Olympics in London.

Azarenka held serve with relative ease the rest of the opening set to stay in the driver's seat, but Clijsters began her comeback by breaking at love on Azarenka's service game in the second.

In the quarterfinals, Clijsters fought off four match points against last year's Aussie runner-up Li Na before pulling out the three-set victory.

Azarenka will face the winner of the Petra Kvitova-Maria Sharapova match. The champion will become the new World No. 1, supplanting Clijsters' quarterfinal victim, Caroline Wozniacki.

After that battle, Sharapova downed second-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to avenge her loss to the Czech in last year's Wimbledon final.

The winner of Saturday's finale will become the new World No. 1, supplanting Clijsters' quarterfinal victim, Caroline Wozniacki. Sharapova has not held the top ranking since the week of June 8, 2007.

Kvitova missed wildly on an overhead smash to lose her second service game, the first of three breaks for Sharapova in the opening set.

comments

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•    Happy Aussie Day to all my Boyz down under!!! XXXO

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•    Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible. (Russell)

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•    Well choreographed for most of the match, VinciRrani's teamwork breaks down in the last game & KuzNareva break to take the 2nd set, 6-4.

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•    Life is what you make it. I plan to make mine #Grand. #CoMo

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•    Muchos conocedores (?) concluyen que Federer se bloquea contra Nadal, que el español le tiene comida la moral al Suizo...Como el Barca al RM

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•    Rafael Nadal murked the lame Roger federer... We bagging the Ausi Open

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•    Debonair men are in short supply these days

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•    I'm NOT just making a record... I'm making a Difference! (You'll be Remembered) #Champion

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•    Sweet, Kim Clijsters was at #fedal match. Things you don't get pointed out with Patrick McEnroe vs. MartIna. OMG, Feli + Wilson advert <3

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•    Terminando de ver un Partidazo! Elena Dementieva vs Kim Clijsters Filderstadt 2005... Nostalgia

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•    Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi! Hope everyone enjoyed Australia Day.

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