Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco set up an Australian Open semifinal clash between friends, compatriots, and Davis Cup teammates by winning their respective quarterfinal matches on Wednesday in Melbourne. Verdasco turned back 2008 Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets, while Nadal dispatched Gilles Simon in three sets.

It was not a routine three sets, however, for Nadal. On the contrary, it was by far his toughest match to date of the fortnight. With a closed roof atop of Rod Laver Arena (due to the extreme heat policy taking effect) making conditions tougher for Nadal, and, in Simon, an opponent playing extremely well at the moment, the No. 1 player in the world ran into his first difficult moments of his Australian Open before pulling out a 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 victory on. Nadal need two hours and 28 minutes to book to secure his place in his second consecutive semifinal appearance at Melbourne Park.

Simon had, surprisingly, gotten the best of Nadal the last time the two players battled, only three months ago–and also indoors–at the Masters Series event in Madrid. That turned out to be a virtual marathon of sorts, ending in a third-set tiebreaker (Simon’s fourth of the week). It seemed like yet another exhausting encounter was in the works after just one game in on Wednesday. Nadal broke serve in the first game of the match, but only after four deuces and a number of extensive baseline rallies.

The top seed Down Under surged to a two-break advantage, serving at 4-1, before Simon put up a serious fight–a challenge that was not extinguished until the final ball was hit. A break at 4-1 put the Frenchman within striking distance, but Simon simply could not take care of his own serve over the course of the opening frame of play. Nadal’s third break gave him an opportunity to serve out the first set, and he did so successfully for 6-2.

Just as he did in the first, Nadal went up an early break in the second, but Simon his quarterfinal opponent has become one of the hardest players on the ATP Tour to put away and that certainly proved to be the case this time around. Not only did the No. 6 seed get the break back, but he even had a set point with the Spaniard serving at 4-5. Nadal, however, saved it and that carried him to three consecutive games and a huge two-set advantage.

The third set proceeded in an almost identical fashion to the second. The two players exchanged one break of serve each en route to 5-5, at which point Nadal yet again broke Simon, giving himself a chance to serve the match out at 6-5. One game later, Simon’s commendable effort amidst extreme odds was finally put to an end once and for all.

Nadal concluded the proceedings with 29 winners and 24 errors, not near the incredible stats he had recorded in his previous four matches, but considering Simon’s style of play and incredible defense, anything in the plus column (winners to errors) is impressive. Simon, meanwhile, sent 42 winners past Nadal and committed 41 unforced errors.

“Today was tough,” Nadal explained afterward, “because play(ing) against Simon is always difficult. I can’t play exactly my rhythm because when I play my rhythm with the forehand, trying to change directions, with the forehand for him is good. I think he feels very well two meters behind the line and running all the time.”

Verdasco also had to play under a close roof, and while it was probably a minor detriment to Nadal, it should have been a severe hindrance to Verdasco. After all, his opponent, Tsonga, much prefers cooler conditions and faster surfaces. He even won an indoor title in Paris late last season; a title that earned him a place in the prestigious year-end Masters Cup.

But apparently the extracurricular factors were of no matter to Verdasco.  The Spaniard has plenty of chances to break Tsonga’s serve in the first, but he couldn’t do it so a tiebreaker ensued. Verdasco took it easily seven points to two.

The first break of the match finally came in the second set with Verdasco serving at 2-3. A flurry of errors—almost out of nowhere—flew off the Verdasco racket and that eventually gave Tsonga a break point. During that decisive point, Verdasco controlled play and he got into net to receiver a floating shot from his opponent. With what should have been an easy put-away volley, however, Verdasco slammed way wide to give Tsonga the break. Tsonga used it to eventually take the set 6-3.

But Tsonga’s success proved to be an aberration and not the rule, and it proved to be short-lived. Verdasco raced to a 4-0 lead in the third set as Tsonga began to visibly wear down. The Frenchman began to go for huge winners very in the rallies, obviously trying to end points as quickly as possible in order to preserve both his mental and physical strength. The attempts, however, were to no avail even though he got one break back. Verdasco took the third set 6-3 and never looked back, storming past Tsonga 6-2 in the fourth.

The surprise semifinalist attributes much of his success to his experience in last season’s Davis Cup final. Verdasco and the underdog Spaniards, without Rafael Nadal, went into Argentina and stunned the host Argentines to win the 2009 title. Verdasco was the hero, winning the doubles rubber with Feliciano Lopez and then clinching the tie by defeating Jose Acasuso in five sets the very next day.

“That Davis Cup, I said too many times, it change my life so much and gave me a lot of confidence and mentally made me much stronger for these matches here,” explained Verdasco after his victory over Tsonga.

It will be the seventh career head-to-head meeting between Nadal and Verdasco when the two countrymen square off in the semifinals on Friday night. Nadal has emerged victorious on every single one of the six previous occasions. Their most recent encounter occurred last season at the French Open, where Nadal–en route to a fourth straight Roland Garros title—destroyed Verdasco 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 in the fourth round.

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