RUTHLESS NADAL TAKES DOWN FEDERER TO REACH FINAL

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal will play Stanislas Wawrinka in the Australian Open final after defeating Roger Federer 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3 in a stunning display on Friday night in Melbourne. Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Pete Sampras were courtside to witness the Spaniard produce a ruthless performance, punctuated with remarkable passing shots, to which Federer had no answer.

While Nadal excelled, he needed to to combat the high level of aggression from Federer. The Swiss did not relent in coming to the net, despite often being thwarted by Nadal's passing shots, and stepped in to hit over his backhand returns, instead of slicing them all.

"I played well tonight," said Nadal. "I think I played probably my best match of the tournament. So I am very, very, very happy for this great news that I played my best match in that semi-final against Roger.

"He arrived to that match winning two great matches against [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga and Andy [Murray] two days ago. I am really very happy the way I played tonight, and it is a very special moment to have the chance to be in another final."

Nadal recorded his fifth win in a row over Federer to advance to his 19th Grand Slam championship match. Playing in 19 major finals ties Nadal in second place with Ivan Lendl. Federer tops the all-time list with 24 final appearances.

The Spaniard is bidding to win his 14th major title and his second at Melbourne Park, having beaten Federer in the 2009 final. He also finished runner-up in 2012, losing out to Novak Djokovic in just under six hours in one of the greatest ever Grand Slam finals.

Nadal has a commanding 12-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record over Wawrinka, who advanced to his first major final by beating three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals and Tomas Berdych in the semis.

- atpworldtour.com