Will and Spirit as Nadal Beats Verdasco in the Match of Australian Open 2009

Given the kind of tennis Rafael Nadal played today against an inspired Fernando Verdasco, you would bet his final opponent and three time champion Roger Federer cannot help but break into sweat (figuratively, of course, for Federer does rarely seem to sweat, even in a match).

His only consolation will be that the five hour plus match might have taken a toll on Rafa, and that the young Mallorcan will get a day's less rest than himself.

Not that you could really tell during the final set against Verdasco. The effort both men put in throughout the duration of the whole match was never once compromised. Verdasco fired everything at Nadal, making him scramble across the court countless times. Scramble Nadal did, and got nearly every ball within his reach back within the court to extend the rally.

Verdasco threw in close to 100 winners, making nearly 80 unforced errors in the process, but that go for broke approach made life exceptionally difficult for his close friend and compatriot. Nadal got backhand crosscourt slices back to Verdasco time and time again, and Fernando pounded relentlessly with explosive forehands, almost ala Nadal.

The first set went to Verdasco, with a little help from Lady Luck that gave him set point from a shot that hit the net cord and trickled over. But there was hardly anything lucky about the remaining shot he played and the rest of the winners he hit.

Nadal came back to win the second and third sets, breaking Verdasco's serve at 5-4 in the second. It was only the first break in the match, another indication of the quality of which both men were holding onto their service games.

At some points in time, Rafa did seem the less comfortable of the two, having to cope with the firepower of his opponent, whose flatter ground strokes suited the hard court more than his own looping topspin forehands. But everytime Nadal seemed out of the point, he just seemed to claw back.

"You have to run for every ball" was what the winner of this match said in an interview to TENNIS magazine two years ago. Rafael Nadal is a man of his word. If he was experiencing any form of fatigue, you could hardly know. The only signs in the final game that showed they had been on court for the entire evening was the clock in the stadium, and the sweat that soaked through Rafa's shirt.

All credit to Verdasco, he's won himself a new legion of fans with that performance alone. It was easily the best match he's ever played in his life, and he can take a lot of heart from it. Not everyone pushes Rafael Nadal to the limit like he did, and you'll have to look back to what was hailed as the best match ever in the Wimbledon epic last year for the last time he was.

And such challenges bring out the best in Nadal, as he displayed there, not just through his play during the match, but also from the manner in which he climbed over the net to embrace Verdasco. No doubt he thanked his friend for such a spirited display, because he showed Nadal and the world of tennis such great respect throughout the match by not succumbing, and not fading away.

The final score: 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in Nadal's favour, with an unfortunate double fault by Verdasco on match point proving to be the decisive error. Statistics don't always reflect the nature of the match, but there is a lot of truth in one particular one.

Number of points won:

Verdasco: 192; Nadal: 193

Wimbledon final 2008 may have been hailed as the best match ever, but I daresay this came close, if not better.

Right now, Nadal will be aiming to physically recover as quickly as he can before the final on Sunday. But the will of steel and surging spirit do not diminish. Roger Federer had better be afraid.