Zee Media Bureau/ Suyash Srivastava

Melbourne: While the Nadal-Federer rivalry is believed to be the greatest in the tennis history, it is surprising to see the huge lead the Spaniard has over the Swiss legend in terms of matches won.

When Federer was knocked out in straight sets by Nadal at the Rod Laver Arena on Friday, Nadal took his all-time win record to 23 as compared to Federer`s 10 in their 33 meetings. Talking just about the Grand Slams, Nadal has defeated Federer nine out of 11 times.

Ahead of their semi-final match, everybody spoke about how well Federer was playing and how the 32-year-old could have an advantage over Nadal, who was struggling with a blister on his left palm. But despite getting some treatment on his blister, Nadal showed no signs of pain or fatigue as he demolished the 17-time Grand Slam champion convincingly.

Experts also reckon Federer has a sort of mental block when he is up against the mighty Spaniard, and the semi-final match at Rod Laver Arena was just another example.