Nadal stands test of time

Rested Federer awaits in final

Rafael Nadal certainly earned a moment's rest after toiling for 5 hours 14 minutes to oust Fernando Verdasco. (Associated Press)

MELBOURNE - After 5 hours 14 minutes, Fernando Verdasco was down on his knees in disappointment, and Rafael Nadal was flat on his back with delight.

Only the fans were on their feet, cheering with appreciation at shortly after 1 a.m. today for the longest recorded match in the history of the Australian Open, which was also one of the best matches in the history of this major tournament.

That is a strong statement at an event that has acquired a knack for producing epic tennis matches, but Nadal's 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (1-7), 6-4 semifinal victory - which earned him another summit meeting with Roger Federer - is now undeniably on the short list.

It was a five-set joint masterwork, created by two lefthanded friends and Spanish countrymen with similar games and dissimilar records. But the top-seeded Nadal and 14th-seeded Verdasco have both been in rare form here this year. They proved it repeatedly as Friday night stretched into Saturday with most of the crowd of 15,000 in Rod Laver Arena - including Rod Laver himself - remaining in their seats until the bittersweet end: a Verdasco double fault.

"It was very emotional today; it was an amazing match," Nadal said. "Today, Fernando deserved to win, too."

There was another potential winner after this remarkable marathon. Federer played and won his much less taxing semifinal against Andy Roddick Thursday night. The Australian Open is the only major that stages the men's semifinals on different days, and while Nadal and Verdasco were pushing each other to their mutual limits on a warm summer evening, Federer was presumably stretched out in his hotel room with the remote control in hand, resting up for the latest chapter in his remarkable rivalry with Nadal.

"I hope Rafa can recover as much as possible and be at his maximum and fight like he always does and win it," Verdasco said, with his left leg wrapped in ice. "I don't think the two semifinals should be on different days. I think both should have the same rest, and I think they should change it in the future."

Nadal, who was suffering from back cramps in his postmatch news conference, which concluded at 3 a.m., said it was very likely that Federer would be fresher physically, but he declined to lobby for change.

"I'm going to do all I can to recover. We'll have to see tomorrow how it goes," he said. "For me, it's a spectacular start of the year to get to the final here, a chance for me to go after something really special. Physically, I probably won't be at 100 percent, but I hope I will be mentally, and the desire is there."

Nadal and Federer have not played since their classic, five-set final at Wimbledon last year, when Nadal ended Federer's five-year reign at the All England Club.

Overall, he holds a 12-6 edge over Federer, but this will be their first match on a hard court at a major, and it will be Nadal's first Australian Open final.

Federer, a three-time Australian Open champion, is chasing his 14th major singles title, which would match the record held by Pete Sampras.

"He has enough experience that I don't think going for the 14th will put pressure on him," Nadal said.

The numbers are also piling up for the Williams sisters. Yesterday, Venus and Serena won their eighth major doubles title together, defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 6-3, 6-3. Serena Williams will attempt to win her fourth Australian Open singles title today (3:30 a.m. EST) when she faces Dinara Safina of Russia.

Whatever happens in the men's final tomorrow, Federer and Nadal have a tough five acts to follow.

Verdasco forced Nadal to use his one-handed slice backhand on a regular basis as he was pushed into deep and wide defensive positions.

It was a match full of clutch serving, corners-to-net-post scrambling, and ripped forehands. But it was much more than a baseline slugfest, with both players changing pace and spins and with Verdasco, in particular, pushing to the net.

Though Verdasco boldly saved the first two match points, he failed to save the third when his final serve of the night smacked into the net tape for a double fault. It was the sound of an imperfect ending, but it was quickly drowned out by a standing ovation as Nadal picked himself off the court and stepped over the net to embrace Verdasco.

"For sure I will have this match in my mind all my life," Verdasco said.