Nadal: Federer favorite in upcoming clash

Rafael Nadal says he doesn’t necessarily need to play as well as he did in the third and fourth sets of his 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in order to best Roger Federer in the semis, but he cannot be as passive as he was in the first two sets. Nadal took down the Swiss the only time they played in Australia, in the 2009 final.

"I will try my best from the beginning. I tried my best from the beginning [against Berdych],” Nadal said. Sometimes the things didn't work as well as you would like, but that's the sport. So I will keep fighting with positive attitude. But if I play like the third or fourth set, hopefully I will have my chances. Always playing in these kind of surfaces he's the favorite. His level is fantastic, and he won a fantastic match against one of the best players of the world, Del Potro. So he's coming with confidence. It will be a very, very difficult match for me. But for me, the most important thing I had the calm. The feeling of the level of my game during all the tournament was really satisfying. Even if I lose, I come back home with very positive feeling about how I played, and for sure the result is good. For me, semifinals after two years with troubles, injuries, I must be happy for that."

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