Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal: live 8:36 8:36 huge applause on the Rod laver as the players come on court...bigger cheer for Rafa it seems. Federer won the toss, chose side over serve, option went to Nadal and he's opted to receive. Strange decisions. Here's what the players have been saying in the lead up: Nadal The ranking is important, but when we talk about a player who won 16 grand slams and I won 10 and we played a lot of matches between each other, and all in very important moments for our careers and very high moments. But for everything, for what the match represents, all the matches against him are special and will be special even if we are (ranked) 20 against 25. He's playing fantastic and he had a fantastic end of the season last year. So he's coming with confidence. It will be a very, very difficult match for me, and I will try. I know I will be on court playing against probably the best of the history, playing well. So obviously my only way and my only chance to win is play aggressive, play very well, and to play to the limit. Federer: Obviously I'd like to play Rafa because of our great epic match earlier in the finals here a few years ago. I'd like to get a chance to play him again here. I guess it's a nice change-up [to meet in the semis for the first time since 2005] OK, it doesn't allow a rematch for the Australian Open final here, you know... but I think it's good for tennis that it changes up a bit. 8:30 it will be interesting to see how much of an impact exhaustion is going to have on this match. In his run to the final four Federer has spent seven hours 38 minutes on court, admittedly he had a walkover in the second round but he has played five hours less tennis in Melbourne than Nadal who's clocked up 12 hours 51 minutes on court. Route to the semis: Federer First Round - def. Alexander Kudryavtsev, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. Second Round - def. Andreas Beck, walkover. Third Round - def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-3. Fourth Round - def. Bernard Tomic, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Quarterfinals - def. Juan Martin del Potro (11), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal First Round - def. Alex Kuznetsov, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Tommy Haas, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Lukas Lacko, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Feliciano Lopez (18), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Tomas Berdych (7), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3. Fancy a flutter? Federer is odds-on (4/6) to see off Nadal (6/5) to make it to his sixth Grand Slam final down under. 8:20 if you're just waking up there's news from Melbourne. Maria Sharapova has settled a score with Petra Kvitova with a gutsy three-set victory over the Czech to claim her place in Saturday's final. The Russian, who won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 joins Victoria Azarenka in what promises to be a screamer of a final. Get your ear plugs at the ready, it's the Screecher v the Hooter. Here's a preview: Two months ago it all went Federer's way, everything the man hit turned to gold, but overall, it's Mr Nadal that has the edge. The Spaniard carries a 17-9 advantage going into today's ties and has won three of the five most recent matches. If you fancy a look over those 26 past encounters, here's a run down 8:14 Good morning/afternoon/evening depending on where in the world you're joining me from for this clash of the titans. Are you ready? As ever the meeting of these two promises to deliver some of the best tennis we will see at this tournament, having said that I expressed a similar belief at the end of November when, all geared up for a five-hour epic and a nightmare journey home from ATP Finals at the O2 Arena, it was all over in 60 minutes.