Federer-Nadal final would be 'most historically significant match ever' - Andy Roddick

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played in the 2014 Australian Open final. Photo / Getty Images

Former US Open champion Andy Roddick has declared the potential dream Australian Open final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would be "The most historically significant match ever".

On top of it forming as one of the final times fans will be able to see the two champions go head to head at a grand slam, Roddick says there is something much more significant on the line than just one final clash of the titans.

The American said a win either way could go a long way to deciding which of the two players will be remembered as the greatest of their time and the greatest of all time.
Federer has won 17 grand slams and Nadal has won 14 grand slams.

However, Nadal enjoys a 23-11 head to head record, including a 9-2 record in grand slams.

Roddick says the retro clash between the two warriors may go down as one of the most memorable matches in tennis.

"If you think of where they are at in terms of Federer being on 17 Slams and Nadal on 14 Slams, a Nadal win puts him back in the game, back in the conversation, narrowing the gap to 17-15 with the French Open just around the corner," Roddick told The Telegraph.

"A Federer wins puts him on to 18 and I don't know that there's enough time left to make up that difference, and he would sit on that record for a long time. If it happens, tennis will just want to give that match a big hug! In-form, playing well, bit of a throwback, it would be amazing."

Roddick on what a Federer-Nadal final would mean at this Australian Open pic.twitter.com/OZf97Ow5XM

— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) January 24, 2017

Nadal tried to play down the hype of the historic match in his post match press conference, insisting he is only looking as far as his semi-final against No. 15 seed Grigor Dimitrov.

"I think is great for tennis that Roger is there again after an injury, after a lot of people talks about always the same things, that probably he will never be back," he said.

"The real thing is that he's back and he's probably ready to win again, fighting again to win a major. That's the real thing, and that's good for the fans because Roger is a legend of our sport, no? I am happy to be there, too. I am focused on my semi-finals."

His opponent on Wednesday night Milos Raonic seemed to understand the significance of the final three matches to be played in the men's singles draw.

"It's going to be an interesting two more matches, one more match, depending on how he goes. But from everything, it's going to be an interesting three more matches to follow. There's a lot of storylines there."