Nadal Defeats Djokovic In Thriller; Faces Federer

Rafael Nadal saved 3 match points against Novak Djokovic to win his semifinal match in 4 hours and 2 minutes 3-6 7-6(3) 7-6(9) in front of 12,500 fans in Madrid, Spain. Federer defeated Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 6-4 to set up a 16th meeting with Nadal in a final and 20th overall. Nadal leads 9-1 on clay, has won the last 5 matches they played (including 3 consecutive Grand Slam finals in Melbourne, London and Paris) and overall has only lost 6 times to Federer in 19 matches.

Spare a thought for World #4 Novak Djokovic who showed to many that he is the world's second best player on clay by holding 3 match points against Nadal and still managed to lose due to some incredible shotmaking from World #1. Roll the tape:

The question is whether Nadal will be tired from today's match that he wll not be able to beat Federer. Honestly, I doubt that. Nadal played one of the best matches of the year against Fernando Verdasco in Australia (over 5 hours of brilliant tennis) and then just over 24 hours later beat Federer in 5-sets on hard courts. Tomorrow's match is a 3-set match on Nadal's best surface and I honestly don't see how Nadal doesn't win and extend his lead of Federer to 6 consecutive wins and 14-6.  I do HOPE that Federer plays as agressively as he can and takes it to Nadal.

MadProfessah's Prediction: Nadal in 3 sets.