Rafa roars into semis

A fired-up Rafa Nadal survived a huge scare from big-hitting Czech Tomas Berdych at the Australian Open yesterday to prevail 6-7 7-6 6-4 6-3 and set up a mouthwatering semifinal with his great rival, Roger Federer.

A set down and facing set point in the second, Nadal dug himself out of a cavernous hole, then roared to victory after a taxing four-hour tussle.

Defending women's champion Kim Clijsters unseated top seed Caroline Wozniacki and ended her controversial reign as world No1 with a straight-sets win in their quarterfinal.

Clijsters held off a determined fightback by the 21-year-old Dane to win 6-3 7-6(4) in 1hr 45min and set up a semifinal against third seed Victoria Azarenka, who beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-7(0) 6-0 6-2.

Nadal's suspect shoulder and creaky knees have been his biggest worries in a fuss-free run at Melbourne Park, but the Spaniard finished in full flight, bashing winners from all angles.

"Semifinals is a fantastic result for me. Starting the season with semifinals in the first big tournament of the season is very good news," Nadal said after celebrating victory.

"The level is very positive, much, much better than the end of the season. The character on court, the way to win the points, everything was much more positive, so I'm very happy."

His last meeting with archrival Federer at Melbourne Park was in the 2009 final, when he upset the Swiss in a five-set classic that brought tears to his opponent's eyes.

Earlier, Federer was in imperious form in his quarterfinal to thrash Juan Martin del Potro, and exact partial revenge for his upset defeat by the Argentine in the 2009 US Open final.

With Novak Djokovic now No1, Nadal and Federer face the unusual situation of meeting a grand slam semifinal for the first time since 2005.

For almost two sets yesterday, it appeared as if this mouth-watering matchup would be denied as towering Berdych's monster serve and vicious forehand gave Nadal an almighty headache.

Embarrassed by Nadal in a straight-sets thrashing for the 2010 Wimbledon title, Berdych was on the front foot from the outset as he pushed the Spaniard into a tense tiebreak.

He calmly sealed the set with an ace after Nadal lost his composure, having been denied the chance to challenge a line-call for taking too long to appeal.

Nadal came out firing in the second set to charge to a 3-1 lead before again being reeled in for a tiebreak.

Berdych raised the stakes by prising a set point at 6-5, but Nadal saved it.

The Czech's disappointment carried on with two unforced errors that let the set slip and, with the smell of blood in the air, Nadal began attacking Berdych's serve with abandon.

He was rewarded with a decisive break at 2-2 and steamed ahead to close out the set with an overhead smash.

Clijsters declined a scan on the ankle she hurt during the epic victory over Li Na in her previous match, opting for treatment and painkillers.