Australian Open 2012: Federer Ready for Nadal

The last time Federer faced Nadal, in the Australian Open, was two years ago, when he lost, painfully, in five sets. He then broke down at the awards ceremony, saying: God, it's killing me.

This year the Swiss tennis star, widely considered one of the best players in the history of the game, crushed 2009 U.S. Open champion in straight sets - 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 - in the quarter-finals. He even finished the match with a flourish - a trademark one-handed backhand winner.

Although Federer has not won a Grand Slam since beating Scotland's Andy Murray in the 2010 Australian Open final, he was full of confidence.

I'm really happy with my game. That's what I'm most concerned with, to be quite honest, Federer said. I'm moving well. I'm serving well. I'm hitting the ball clean, he added.

Incidentally, the quarter-final was Federer's 1000th ATP tour match.

It's a big milestone. It's a lot of matches and a lot (of) tennis, he commented.

Meanwhile, his leading rival on the tour, Spain's Rafael Nadal, looked far from convincing in his quarter-final win against Czech international Tomas Berdych. Nadal took four hours and sixteen minutes to claim the match, finally winning 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Hopefully I will have my chances, the Spaniard said, ahead of his showdown with Federer, adding, Always playing in these kind of surfaces, he's the favorite. His level is fantastic.

We talk about a player who won 16 grand slams and I won 10 and we played a lot of matches between each other and all in very important moments for our careers and very high moments, he further said.

All the matches against him are special, Nadal concluded.

The Spaniard has a 17-9 career record against Federer.