• Australian Open, Day 11

What They Said

ESPN staff
January 26, 2012
Roger Federer was beaten in four sets by Rafael Nadal © Getty Images
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Nadal outlasts Federer
Sharapova cracks Kvitova
Azarenka topples Clijsters

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Roger Federer's wait for a 17th grand slam title continues after he was beaten in a thrilling four-set encounter by Rafael Nadal. The Swiss believes both he and Nadal manage to raise their games against each other.

"We have had good matches over the years. I enjoy playing him. The crowd really gets into it, which is nice. We have a lot of respect for each other, which is good, too, I think. I hope it inspires future generations or other players, you know, being nice to each other on the court and all that stuff. You know, works as well at the highest of levels. Yeah, we also kind of, you know, play well against each other. I always think he plays a bit better against me than against other players, but that's good for him."

Second seed Rafael Nadal reached his fourth consecutive grand slam final, but after suffering an injury scare on the eve of the Australian Open, the Spaniard insists he will go home happy, even if he loses Sunday's final.

"Sunday afternoon, 24 hours to play my first match, I was in my room crying because I believe I didn't had the chance to play Melbourne. So it was a very, very tough situation for me, these hours. Two weeks later I am here in the finals, so is a dream for me because having very bad expectations 24 hours before the first match, and now two weeks later I am playing well. I am in the final.

"I don't know if it's gonna be enough against Novak [Djokovic] or against Andy [Murray]. But what can I say? I'm very happy about my tournament. I gonna try my best to try to play a fantastic final, and hopefully I will have my chances. But if the opponents play better than me and he beat me, I gonna go home very happy about my tournament. I gonna go home knowing that the way that I am working is working very well, and keep working on this way. Probably this way give me a good success in the next months."

Victoria Azarenka overcame a wobble to beat Kim Clijsters and has admitted she was nervous when serving for a place in the final. She said: "My hand felt like it was about 200kgs and my body was about 1000. Everything was shaking, but that feeling when you finally win was such a relief. I could not believe it was over and I wanted to cry. It was just trying to stay in the moment. Kim took over the second set, there was nothing I could do, but I regrouped and kept fighting and I am really happy. I was happy with how I fought. I do fight for every ball."

On her improved mental attitude, Azarenka joked: "I think before you all thought I was a mental case but I was just young and emotional."

Kim Clijsters was at full stretch against Victoria Azarenka © Getty Images
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Kim Clijsters had mixed emotions following her loss, with it being her final match at an Australian Open. She said: "I'm disappointed. But then again, I felt like I have given it my all these last two weeks, and it's unfortunate. The match was very close. There were a few deciding moments where I think I maybe had a little bit of an advantage, in the third set, especially that first game where I had break point. But, you know, she definitely played really well. She was playing very aggressive tennis, moving really well. So she deserved to win at the end."

Former Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova booked her place in the final with a gritty win over Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, and she will not be underestimating first-time finalist Azarenka.

"I played Petra in her first grand slam final. She played really high quality tennis out there on the grass, and, you know, she went out there and it didn't really affect her. So, you know, even though Victoria hasn't really been in that stage of a grand slam before, she's certainly won big titles and she has the experience. This is a stage she's wanted to be at for a long time, so I do expect her to play really good tennis."

Petra Kvitova refused to be downhearted after her semi-final defeat: "Of course I'm disappointed right now. I mean, if I look back, I don't know, in week, for example, it will be good tournament for me, first semifinal in the Australian Open. But, you know, I fight and nothing, nothing at all. So, I mean, yeah, I have to say that Maria play good tennis today. Yeah, so, I mean, now I'm really sad, but in the next days it will be fine."

Bob and Mike Bryan had to dig deep to reach the final of the men's doubles. They were two mini-breaks down in the final-set tiebreak but fought back to beat Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 4-6 6-3 7-6(5). Mike Bryan said "I think we maybe got a little lucky. Played kind of our best tennis at the very end. They're a big‑serving team. It's tough. I thought they played well. We played them before. That's definitely the best they've played against us. They weren't nervous. I think they're the most improved out on tour, too. They work pretty hard. They're getting better."

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