Nadal, Federer rekindle rivalry today

Having overcome Juan Martin Del Potro and Tomas Berdych, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will now face off in the first semi today.
Nadal  and Federer have played each other no less than 26 times in official ATP matches, with Rafa leading 17-9 in the head to head.
Incredibly though, they have met just once at the Australian Open, that epic match from 2009 when Nadal beat Federer in five sets – the first time Rafa had won a hard court Grand Slam title.
Federer says he is pleased to be facing rival Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semi-final on Thursday.
“I really wanted to play Rafa because of our epic match in the final here a few years ago.
“I guess it’s a nice change [to face him in a semi-final],” Federer said.
“It doesn’t allow a rematch of the Australian Open final here – but I think it’s good for tennis that it changes a bit.”
Nadal, the world number two, said any match between himself and his great rival is “special”, whatever ranking they hold.
“The ranking is important, but we’re talking about a player who has won 16 Grand Slams and I’ve won 10,” he said.
“We’ve played a lot of matches between each other. They were all very important moments in our careers and provided very high moments,” he said.
“All the matches against him are special and will be special even if we are [ranked] 20 against 25.”
Nadal plans to play an “aggressive” game against Federer, who he deems to be favourite on the hard courts of Melbourne.
“He’s playing well and he had a fantastic end of the season last year [winning the ATP Finals]. He’s coming with confidence. It will be a very, very difficult match for me,” he added.
“I know I will be on court playing against probably the best of the history. Obviously my only way and my only chance to win is to play aggressively, play very well and to play to the limit.”
Prior to the tournament, Nadal said Federer had not done enough to challenge the authorities over issues such as prize money and scheduling. The Swiss player responded by stating he had “no hard feelings” towards his rival.
In the lead-up to their clash, Federer added: “It was here for one day and then gone again. I’m happy about that because it didn’t deserve more attention.”