French Open:Rafael Nadal has mixed feelings about Roger Federer's French Open demise as he faces up to being the overwhelming favourite for his fifth Roland Garros title.
For the first time in his career, Nadal will not need to beat his arch-rival to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires after the world number one’s shock quarter-final exit at the hands of Robin Soderling.
Second seed Nadal accepts the absence of Federer makes his task easier but he also empathises with the Swiss, who he feels may be the only other player to feel the pain of defeat as keenly as he himself does.
“The truth is I always love to see the best players win, because I know that the losses for the best players are harder than for the rest,” said Nadal, who suffered his first ever defeat at Roland Garros last year.
The Spaniard, who will usurp Federer as world number one if he wins Sunday’s final, added: “Sure, it is better if Roger lost.
“But, I always say the same: I believe if you are number one or you are not number one, you can’t be thinking all the time about being number one.”
Nadal’s title odds shortened further last night when third seed Novak Djokovic threw away a two-set lead to lose a marathon match against Jurgen Melzer, who will now face the the Spaniard in tomorrow’s semi-finals.
Nadal has won both his previous meetings with Melzer in straight sets but knows the 29-year-old is in the form of his life, having also disposed of David Ferrer.
“He’s playing unbelievably,” said Nadal. “He played against David Ferrer — I saw him in the match.
“A big comeback against Djokovic, playing a high level. I saw him at the end of the match playing very aggressively, serving well.
“If he’s in the semi-finals, it is because he’s the best of his draw.”
Austrian Melzer had never before been beyond the fourth round of a grand slam in 31 attempts.
But the 22nd seed has nothing to lose against Nadal, who has now won his last 20 matches.
One man Melzer could turn to for advice on how to topple the king of clay is Soderling, who will line up against Tomas Berdych tomorrow hoping to secure his place in a second successive final.
Soderling has won his last two matches against Nadal, the first famously at Roland Garros last year. However, he did suffer a comprehensive defeat in his last meeting with Berdych, losing 6-2 6-2 at this year’s Miami Masters.
Pointing out he won their previous match just as emphatically, the fifth seed said: “I know every match is a new match, and he’s played great this year.
“He’s a dangerous player when he’s playing good.”
With this being his first grand slam semi-final since finishing runner-up last year, Soderling would appear to favour clay as a surface, even though it seems at odds with his natural game.
“I think I kind of like the slower surface a little bit more than the really fast ones,” he said. “When I serve like this and when I’m feeling like I’m hitting the ball well like this, I think maybe clay is my best surface.”
Berdych, who has never before gone this far in a major, also played down the significance of his April victory over Soderling.
“The score looks quite easy,” he said. “That’s just how it looks on paper.
“I won that match, and so it could be kind of a small advantage. But here we’re going to play best of five sets, semi-final of a grand slam.
“That’s a different position for me because he already reached it last year.
“I will just stay with my game as much as I can and try to profit from my strokes.”