MELBOURNE, Australia – The intensity was vintage Rafael Nadal.
On the stroke of midnight, he thrust his arms up and punched the air, sealing the victory that sets up the most anticipated semifinal at the Australian Open in quite some time.
Roger Federer did his part to put this in place. In the previous match on Rod Laver Arena, he beat 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in a quarterfinal marking his 1,000th tour-level match.
A Federer-Nadal semifinal had been looming since the draw for the season’s first major — the first time the pair have been in the same half at a Grand Slam tournament since 2005.
Playing with a new racket and a heavily taped right knee, Nadal was at his demonstrative best, rallying after losing the first set to beat Tomas Berdych 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3.
Yelling “Vamos,” disputing line calls, pumping his arms after winning big points and bounding around like a hyperactive kid, Nadal ripped winner after winner against Berdych in a 4-hour, 16-minute display of pure intimidation.
He said he was nervous in the first set — he’d lost in the quarterfinals two straight years — but by the third and fourth sets
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