nando

rafa needed 5 sets to oust verdasco, in a 5 hour and 14 minute thriller that was completed way past midnight. nando hit an incredible 95 winners, but of course with whole lot of unforced errors as well. according to some bloggers, this match now sets the record for the longest match ever in australian open, as well as the first all spanish men's semis clash here.

"remarkable!", as the very pro-federer vijay amritraj quipped. speaking of vijay. all throughout the match (and other rafa's matches), he seemed lacking at remarkable adjectives to describe rafa's performance. he just says how fast rafa gets to the ball or how quick he sets himself up after scrambling around the court to defend. he always says that rafa only waits for his opponent's errors to win a point, altogether neglecting rafa's ability to set up the point well and pound on balls at more opportune time. this is what federer also does, as both of them are not players who will go for each shot every single time, a la james blake or fernando gonzalez. vijay fails to point out rafa's offense, from his angled forehands that opens up the court or backhand slices that keep the balls so low.

i hope that rafa still has got enough gas to beat roger in tomorrow's final. nando, even if he has lost the chance to play roger for the title, criticized the australian open organizers for scheduling the other semi-final match ahead of theirs.

“i think the semi-finals are supposed to be the same day, both semi-finals,

because i think it is the most fair for everybody.

because like right now, yesterday federer played three sets,

and today rafa played five sets, five hours,

and he will have one day less (to recover)."

- fernando verdasco.

another clash of the titans tomorrow... another grand slam title on the line. rafa has an advantage of 12 wins in 18 matches against federer. i hope that this streak continues, especially as rafa's playing his first aussie open final. may the tennis gods be on his side! (",)