Federer vs. Nadal: Semifinal Match Will Fail to Meet Hype

While Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's rivalry is easily one of the best the sport has ever seen, there's no reason to believe that their semifinal clash will be a part of their highlight reel years from now. Federer is too sharp and Nadal's game is not on point enough to beat Federer right now. 

Remember, when the two met in November, Federer drubbed Nadal 6-3, 6-0.

Also note that while the all-time score favors Nadal 17-9, those numbers are dramatically skewed by a 12-2 Nadal advantage on clay. That is not the surface for this match. 

Watching Nadal's match against Tomas Berdych, it was obvious that something wasn't right. Nadal showed more emotion and frustration than we're accustomed to seeing. The officiating was horrendous, but Nadal let it get under his skin more than we're used to seeing. 

He was also forced to run around a lot, which is not good. In addition to Nadal's shoulder injury, his knee is obviously banged up. The only proof you need of that is to watch him play with a taped up right knee. 

The one-dimensional Berdych pushed Nadal to 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3. Nadal was one tiebreaker away from being behind 0-2. Berdych was making Nadal run, putting pressure on him and taking the Spaniard to the limit. 

If a man who is little more than a big serve is going to come that close to knocking off Nadal, Federer will finish the job. 

Fed-Ex is at full form right now. He hasn't dropped a set, and has even received the benefit of a walkover victory. 

What all of this means is that it won't be a five-set thrill ride. Federer has every advantage working for him against Nadal, and he's going to exploit those advantages. 

Nadal will be the first man to take a set from Federer at the Australian Open, but will do nothing more than that. 

Federer will take this one relatively easily and cruise into the finals.

Semifinal Prediction:

Roger Federer	6	7	3	6
Rafael Nadal	4	5	6	4

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