After a year in which the tennis world has been deprived of seeing one of its greatest ever rivalries played out on court, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal battled through their Madrid Open semi-finals on Saturday to set up a mouthwatering showdown on the clay at the Magic Box arena.
Spaniard Nadal was first into Sunday's final when he came from a set down to beat compatriot Nicolas Almagro 4-6 6-2 6-2 and world number one Federer joined him by dispatching David Ferrer, another Spaniard, 7-5 3-6 6-3.
The last time the pair met across the net in a competitive match was in last year's Madrid final.
Federer's 6-4 6-4 victory 12 months ago sparked off a golden spell for the Swiss as he went on to capture an emotional first title at Roland Garros before triumphing at Wimbledon for a sixth time.
Nadal's 2009 season, which began with an epic five-set win over Federer at the Australian Open, hit the skids as injured knees prevented him from defending his Wimbledon crown and he surrendered the number one ranking to his arch rival.
Nadal owns a 9-2 winning record on clay against Federer but with the French Open title in the hands of the Swiss, the world is waiting to see if the balance of power on the red dust has shifted.
"I think it's exciting for tennis and for us as well that we can face off again," a relaxed-looking Federer told a news conference.
"He's playing really well on clay now, I'm finding my form again really nicely here in Madrid so it's one of those finals you just never know," the 28-year-old added.
"I was able to come up with the right plays at the right time in the final last year and I have to do something similar tomorrow to come through."
A jovial Nadal, who has an overall 13-7 winning record against Federer and is seeking a hat-trick of Masters titles on his favored surface after triumphs in Monte Carlo and Rome, said he was not out for revenge.
"I go out there to win every match and I forget about the previous one," said the 23-year-old, whose four-year French Open reign was ended last May.
"I believe that if you think about revenge you don't have a cool enough head to play your normal game.
"It's always a special motivation playing Federer and they are always very difficult matches."
Cries of "Vamos Rafa!" and "Vamos Nico!" rang out around Manolo Santana center court earlier as the capacity crowd could not decide whether they wanted a massive upset win for unseeded Almagro or another victory for Nadal.
In the end they were treated to a contest of the highest quality, with both players cracking a slew of blistering winners and Almagro defying his ranking of 35.
With half the court bathed in sunshine and the rest in chilly shadow, the feisty Almagro sprinted into a 4-1 lead with two breaks of the Nadal serve.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo was again in a front row seat at the Magic Box arena and it looked for a while as if Real fan Nadal might be about to suffer a shock exit to his lesser-known compatriot.
But the 24-year-old Almagro from Murcia in southern Spain was unable to maintain the early intensity, suffering two breaks of serve in each of the second and third sets.
Almagro almost alienated the crowd at one point in the decider when he lost his temper with a ball girl but was given a rousing ovation as he left the court and even Nadal was moved to applaud him off.
There was no doubt who the partisan crowd were behind in the second semi-final.
Nadal's Davis Cup team mate Ferrer sent the fans into a frenzy with a stirring fightback but the Swiss maestro turned the screw in the decider.
He missed a couple of break points in the second game of the third set but made the most of another to take a 5-3 lead before sealing victory with an eighth ace.
"I knew on clay I was going to come through a tougher period and that's what happened in the second set," Federer said.
"He (Ferrer) doesn't miss much, he fights like crazy and he's really improved over the last few years."
