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Rafael Nadal will continue his storied rivalry with Roger Federer on Sunday
Rafael Nadal came through an epic five-setter against Grigor Dimitrov today to book his place in the Australian Open final.
Roger Federer also had to go through five sets in his semi-final – against Stan Wawrinka yesterday – but will have an extra day to prepare for the encounter.
It will be the 35th time the two have met and their ninth Grand Slam final, where Nadal has only lost to Federer twice.
Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal rivalry in Grand Slam finals
Fri, January 27, 2017
Click through the gallery for the best snaps of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's rivalry in Grand Slam finals
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Click through the gallery for the best snaps of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's
And the Spaniard is delighted to have the chance to renew his rivalry with the 35-year-old.
"It's amazing for me, for me and I think for tennis, too," said Nadal.
"It is the combination of two different styles that makes the matches really special.
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Roger Federer has only beaten Rafael Nadal twice in Grand Slam finals
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Roger Federer had to play five sets against Stan Wawrinka but had an extra day to recover
"It's a different way to play tennis.
"Both of us, I think, have had a lot of good success with these two different styles.
"I feel that this rivalry is not only in the tennis world.
"People from outside of our world talks about this, and that's good for our sport.
"It's good that we are back there."
Both players have been struggling with injury in their preparation for the first major of the year.
And Nadal admitted that the physicality of his semi-final would be the first challenge.
"Now I going to go back to the locker room and say thanks to my team for the support, then just try to recover," added Nadal.
"First of all, I need to go to sleep.
"That's the first thing that is important for the recover.
"After that try to do all the things the right way to be ready for Sunday."
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