Tennis: Roger and Rafa best mates at charity hit

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at the Rally for Relief in Melbourne yesterday. Photo / Getty Images

Roger and Rafa were behaving like best mates on Rod Laver Arena - high-fiving, hugging, shaking hands and laughing at each other's jokes on the eve of the Australian Open.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were at the "Rally for Relief" to raise money for victims of the floods in Queensland.

It'll be a different story if they're back on the same court in a fortnight.

Federer is the defending champion. Nadal has won the three Grand Slam titles in the interim and is aiming to become the first man since Laver in 1969 to win four straight majors. It's being dubbed the Rafa Slam.

The pair played on opposite sides of the net, and then played together against Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur in front of a capacity 15,000 crowd which paid to watch a host of tennis stars in the fundraiser.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick wore microphones and joked with the crowd, playing alongside and against the likes of Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka in the celebrity hit-and-giggle exhibition.

Neither Federer nor Nadal wore microphones when they played. It was mostly smiles but there were glimpses of competitive intensity when they faced each other in mixed doubles.

At one point, 16-time Grand Slam winner Federer used his court craft to bring Nadal to the net and then beat him with a backhand passing shot.

The muscular Spaniard replied next point, leaping high and smashing an overhead winner beyond Federer's reach.

After each of those winners, the two smiled broadly at each other.

Nadal also bludgeoned a forehand down the line on the last point of their singles mini-match and then, shaking hands and laughing, the two standout players in men's tennis joined forces against US Open champion Clijsters and French Open finalist Sam Stosur - Australia's best hope in the women's draw.

During their exhibition yesterday, Federer said Nadal had "been playing incredible".

"An incredible run through the French, Wimbledon, US Open - it was incredible to see. Then obviously it's hard to maintain. But he's going to be for sure ready for this. I'll follow it very closely. If I get a chance, I hope I can stop him."

The first major of the year starts today with 2008 women's champion Maria Sharapova playing Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn in the opening match on centre court, followed by No 1 Wozniacki against Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Federer playing Lukas Lacko of Slovakia.

Third-seeded Djokovic, the 2008 champion, plays Spaniard Marcel Granollers in the main night match on Rod Laver Arena.

Andy Roddick plays Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic on the second showcourt. Following Roddick on Hisense Arena will be fourth-seeded Venus Williams against Italy's Sara Errani and seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin against Indian qualifier Sania Mirza.

With Serena Williams unable to defend her title because of her injured foot, Clijsters is growing in favouritism at Melbourne Park.

She faces a challenging opening match tomorrow against former No 1-ranked Dinara Safina, who slumped in the rankings last year due to a back injury and hasn't reached a Grand Slam final since consecutive defeats in championship matches at Melbourne and Paris in 2009.

Clijsters, a three-time US Open champion, has played down talk about favourites.

"I really don't want to waste too much energy on what's happening on other parts of the draw or what's being said around us," she said yesterday.

Wozniacki, who has a difficult opening match against Dulko, didn't think she was handicapped in any way by never having won a major.

"I've got great results - you don't become No 1 by winning small tournaments," said the 20-year-old Danish player, who has won six of her 12 career WTA singles titles in 2010. "I don't have to prove anything."

She was as relaxed as she could be yesterday, when the players combined to help raise more than A$1.8 million for the flood victims through ticket sales and donations.

Nadal withdrew from his quarterfinal here last year to Murray, who went on to lose the final to Federer.

He will be in action tomorrow, when he starts his bid for the Rafa Slam against Marcos Daniel of Brazil.

Debate will no doubt intensify as to the status of the Rafa Slam against Laver's four in a calendar year the closer he gets to achieving it.

Some pundits consider Nadal's achievement a match for Laver's because he's won on all three surfaces and had tougher competition.

Laver still believes the true Grand Slam can be achieved only in a calendar year.

- AP