• Australian Open, Day Nine

Stamina key as Nadal outlasts brave Berdych

Rafael Nadal was made to sweat against Tomas Berdych © PA Photos

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Second seed Rafael Nadal overcame an early stumble on Tuesday to see off the challenge of Tomas Berdych in four sets and book an Australian Open semi-final meeting with Roger Federer.

Berdych made a bright start to the contest and stunned his Spanish opponent to steal a first set tiebreak, but his luck ran out after wasting another set point in the second set equivalent as Nadal quickly found his rhythm and proceeded to battle his way to a 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 6-4 6-3 victory that took well over four hours.

The opening set went with serve, although both players threatened at times to grab an early break as neither could quite find consistency with their serve to prevent the other from creating rare openings. Ground strokes consistently bailed both men out, however, with Berdych - who had lost his last nine meetings with Nadal - looking increasing confident as the games went by.

With Nadal serving at 6-5, Berdych found himself presented with three opportunities to claim the opening set after leading Nadal into a series of unforced errors. None of the opportunities could be taken as Berdych buried two half chances into the net. A fourth opening was created, but Berdych again could only find the net before Nadal escaped with a powerful forehand.

That sent things to a tiebreaker, one Nadal looked to be on course to win after securing a mini-break - but a lack of a call (or challenge) on a Berdych shot that appeared out cost him dearly as he lost his head and allowed the Czech to turn things around and grab a shock lead in the blink of an eye.

Things threatened to get even worse for Nadal at the start of the second set, as he found himself distracted by a heated discussion with the umpire as Berdych carved out another two break points. But an ace and a handful of errors enabled the 25-year-old to escape his hole.

Having taken the scores to 2-1, Nadal then finally took the first break of the contest - swiping home a simple volley after Berdych played himself out of position. The Spaniard was still far from comfortable, however, as he relinquished the advantage a few games later - partly through carelessness, although ultimately sealed by a monster Berdych forehand - as the set motored on to another tiebreak.

The second breaker was almost the reverse of the first, with Nadal surviving a real scare to come through and restore parity. Berdych even had the chance to go two sets ahead, but he failed to convert a makeable backhand volley that threatened to haunt him. And sure enough he was punished for that mistake, Nadal driving home his advantage as Berdych flailed a forehand long - a disappointment even a desperate challenge could not correct.

Berdych bounced back with a couple of aces to take the first game of the third set, but then found himself on the wrong end of a flurry of three breaks of service in four games. That put Nadal ahead for the first time in a contest that was already approaching three hours, and he went on to put his nose back in front after dealing with all Berdych's questioning on his serve to power home a smash for 6-4.

The match had turned in Nadal's favour on the scoreboard and momentum certainly seemed to be with him on the court, a fact he underlined in the very first game of the fourth set. Having engineered a break point, Nadal showed he was well and truly in top gear with a desperately stretching forehand from deep behind the baseline that whipped past an incredulous Berdych and clipped the line on its way through.

A successful hold put Nadal in the driving seat to progress to the next round, but Berdych was not going to simply hand his opponent passage into the final four - as he continued to ride a potent serve to a comfortable hold. Nadal did get a chance for a consolidation break with the scores at 3-1, but Berdych was able to breathe a sigh of relief as a forehand flew just wide.

Nadal then faced the job of closing out two more service games to dispose of a dogged opponent, but it was not routine. A remarkable Berdych return and subsequent double fault threatened to cause a few flutters, but Berdych again buried a backhand into the net cord to let Nadal move within one game of victory.

Like all good predators, Nadal then went in for the kill at the first opportunity. A beautifully disguised drop volley heightened the anticipation of the crowd as he moved 0-30 ahead, and another Berdych net cord offered up three match points.

One was all Nadal needed, however, as the Spaniard blasted back a forehand right at Berdych's feet, a shot the Czech - perhaps through exhaustion - simply could not get back.

Nadal will thus face Federer in the semi-finals, as he looks for his first Australian Open title since 2009.

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