The best rivalry in tennis for the past decade or so resumes in the semifinals of the Australian Open when third-seeded Roger Federer and No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal meet for a spot in Sunday’s final. It’s the 27th time these two Hall of Famers will have met. Federer opened as the slight -115 tennis bets favorite on WagerWeb.com for Thursday night’s match in Melbourne.

Four-time Australian Open champion Federer advanced to his ninth straight semifinal at Melbourne Park with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 quarterfinal win Tuesday over Juan Martin del Potro, the man who beat him for the U.S. Open title in 2009. It was the 1,000th match in Federer’s pro career and he has yet to drop a set here in 2012. Nadal took 4 hours and 16 minutes to beat Tomas Berdych 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3, reach his 18th major semifinal.

Federer and Nadal – they were ranked 1-2 for many years – have been on opposite halves of the draw since the 2005 French Open. That was the last time the pair met in a Grand Slam semifinal, won that year by Nadal in four sets.

Nadal takes a 17-9 lifetime edge into Thursday’s match, including a 7-2 edge and a four-match winning streak in the majors. The last time Federer emerged victorious on the Grand Slam stage was the 2007 Wimbledon final, and it’s a trend he badly wants to reverse.

Nadal handed Federer two of his toughest losses, triumphing in arguably the greatest match of all time at Wimbledon in 2008 and repeating his five-set heroics at the ensuing Australian Open. Few thought Nadal had it in him in 2009, given he had contested a five-hour, 14 minute marathon against Fernando Verdasco in the semifinals two days before. Federer enjoyed an extra day of rest back then.

“We played a lot of matches against each other, in very important moments for our careers and very high moments,” said Nadal, a 10-time Grand Slam champion. “So the match is special.”

They played four times last year, with Nadal winning in the semifinals in Miami and Madrid and in the final of the French Open. But Federer stopped the streak emphatically when he dismantled Nadal, 6-3, 6-0, in the round-robin phase of the ATP World Tour Finals in November. Federer, not Nadal, has been on the much bigger roll of late. He has not lost since the semifinals of last year’s United States Open, winning his last 24 matches. His only blemish came when he retired before the semifinals in Doha with his back problems.

“Even if it’s not a final, it’s still a huge match,” Federer said.

The winner faces the Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray winner on Saturday night U.S. time.

Place your tennis bets at our online sportsbook!

betting lines Sports

It was a turbulent start in tennis bettingaction at the Australian Open for second seed Rafael Nadal, as the world’s No. 2-ranked player battled through a sore knee and tried to quell a brewing controversy over critical comments he was reported to have made about rival Roger Federer.

Nonetheless, the fiery Spaniard defeated Alex Kuznetsov of Russia in straight sets (6-4, 6-1, 6-1) to advance to the second round of play at the year’s first Grand Slam event in Melbourne. Nadal won the match despite having his right knee heavily taped and complaining of pain and a limited range of motion prior to the match.

Bet on the Austrlian Open today.

Nadal, who subsequently tried to downplay remarks he reportedly made on Sunday that were interpreted as being critical of Federer’s seeming reluctance to publicly support his fellow ATP Tour pros with regard to scheduling changes, will hit the court as a -3300 betting favorite for his second-round match against underdog Tommy Haas (+1000).

Federer, who quickly dismissed the notion that he might have any concerns about Nadal’s remarks, also won his first-round match in straight sets (7-5, 6-2, 6-2) with a dominating victory overAlexander Kudryavtsev of Russia. The Swiss legend, seeded third in the men’s draw, will faceAndreas Beck of Germany as a prohibitive favorite (-10000) to win his second-round match against the underdog Beck (+1600).

Nadal and Federer are on the same side of the men’s draw and appear destined to meet in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, presuming they maintain good health and are able to win all of their respective matches leading up to the final four. While Nadal is currently bothered by a sore right knee, Federer withdrew from the Qatar Open two weeks ago with a sore back.

Juan Martin del Potro (22/1 odds to win the Australian Open), Tomas Berdych (33/1) and Mardy Fish (125/1) and are among the top players on the same side of the draw as Nadal (13/2) and Federer (4/1) who could well threaten an upset as the tournament continues to unfold.

Be there for every victory. 
Visit Bovada’s online sportsbook now for all your Australian Open tennis betting odds and props.

betting lines Sports