MELBOURNE, Australia -- Rafael Nadal continued his dominant streak over Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final for the third time, beating the 17-time major winner 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 Friday night to set up a championship decider against No. 8-seeded Stan Wawrinka. With his 23rd win in 33 matches against Federer, the 27-year-old Spaniard set up an ideal chance to win a 14th Grand Slam title and to become the first man to win all four majors at least twice in the Open era. Nadal missed the 2013 Australian Open during a seven-month layoff for illness and a knee injury, but returned to win the French and U.S. Opens among his 10 titles for the season and finished the year at No. 1. He won the Australian Open in 2009, beating Federer in the final, and lost in a five-set, 5-hour, 53-minute 2012 final to Novak Djokovic after ousting Federer in the semis. In other years, hes struggled with injuries -- its the only Grand Slam tournament he hasnt won at least twice. "Its really, really emotional for me to be back on this court, Rod Laver Arena, and to be able to play another final," Nadal said. "I think tonight I played the best match of the tournament. I go on court (against Federer) knowing that is a really tough match and if I am not playing my best, I will not have the chance to win." At the end of the night, Federer knew he wouldnt even be the No. 1-ranked player in Switzerland next week. By reaching his first major final, Wawrinka ensured hed replace Federer as their countrys highest-ranked player for the first time. But the 32-year-old Federer is confident of winning more majors, expecting some coaching from Stefan Edberg and continued improvement in his fitness to help after a slump in 2013, when he didnt reach any of the major finals for the first time in 11 years. "I still think my best tennis is only ahead of me now," said Federer, who reached the Australian Open semifinals for 11 consecutive years. Nadal is now second on the list of players reaching Grand Slam finals, joining Ivan Lendl on 19 -- Federer leads the list with 24. Another Grand Slam title would lift Nadal to equal second on the all-time list with Pete Sampras, who was in the crowd for the match. Nadal has struggled with a blister on the palm of his left hand in his last two matches, but he removed the heavy tape that affected his serve in his quarterfinal win over Grigor Dimitrov and replaced it with one square of adhesive tape. A TV camera got a close-up view of the blister when he took a medical timeout after the first game of the second set, drawing gasps and groans from the crowd. "Too much talk about the blister. The blister is OK," Nadal said in his on-court interview. "The problem ... is the position of the blister, its difficult." But, he said, he didnt feel any pain. He certainly didnt show it if he did. He resisted just about everything Federer threw at him, scrambling to keep balls in play that usually would be winners. Federer served and volleyed, he played with good touch, he played drop shots, he tried everything -- even complaining to the chair umpire about Nadals loud grunting after the tiebreaker -- but his 50 resulting unforced errors doubled the number by his rival. Left-handed Nadal hit 13 of his 28 winners on his powerful forehand, attacking Federers one-handed backhand yet again. "I tried a few things ... then again, Rafa does a good job of neutralizing you," Federer said. "So I guess at times I couldnt quite do what I wanted to do, but thats because of Rafa." The first break of the match came in the sixth game of the second set, giving Nadal a 4-2 lead. That only heightened the crowd support for Federer, who got a standing ovation when he broke Nadal back to make it 2-all in the third set, immediately after dropping serve in the previous game. It noise and chants died down again when Federer was broken again soon after and Nadal finished off the match. Wawrinka beat Tomas Berdych on Thursday night, getting an extra day off ahead of Sundays championship match. Li Na will be hoping for third time lucky in the womens final on Saturday against Dominika Cibulkova. She has reached the finals in three of the past four years, but is yet to win the Australian title. Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci rallied to win the last five games and successfully defended their Australian Open womens doubles title on Friday with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Russian pair Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Georgios Papagiannis Jersey . The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter. Terry Porter Jersey . She was 30. The former British No. 1 died peacefully surrounded by family and friends, the Womens Tennis Association said on its website. The Kyiv-born Baltacha, who represented Britain at the 2012 London Olympics, was diagnosed with the illness in January, two months after retiring from tennis and only weeks after she married her long-time coach Nino Severino. https://www.blazerslockerroom.com/Rodney...Edition-Jersey/. Simon (10-3) allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in 6 1-3 innings to break a tie with the Dodgers Zack Greinke and Cardinals Adam Wainwright for the NL lead in victories. Simon went to spring training as a relief pitcher and moved into the starting rotation when Mat Latos was recovering from elbow and knee surgeries. Anfernee Simons Blazers Jersey . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. C.J. McCollum Jersey . The Raptors two leading scorers were never able to co-exist the way they hoped or the team had envisioned, but individually DeRozan was thriving, in the midst of a career season.FIVE QUICK HOOPS THOUGHTS: 1. CHRIS ANDERSON (Heat): He played big last night with 12 rebounds. One of those unsung players with a cast of stars that does the dirty work and plays with incredible energy. When you play the Pacers you need one of your big guys to stand his ground and match their physicality and paint dominance. The Bird-Man has not backed down in his game whatsoever. Miami had lots of concerns with their ability to match Indy in the paint. If Anderson plays like he did last night it will go a long way towards winning this series. 2. PACERS BENCH: Nine points? Gotta get a whole lot more from this unit. I know that Evan Turner was sick, but when you reflect on his contributions since coming over from Philly for Danny Granger, it hasnt worked out the way theyd like. When Rasual Butler - at this stage of his career - is your top scorer off the bench youve got some challenges to overcome. Ive always been a fan of Luis Scola, but if the Pacers could rewind things back a year, theyd be more than happy to have Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee back from the Phoenix Suns. Cant do anything about that now. Simply put - more production needed. 3. TONY PARKER (Spurs): In Game 1, he was brilliant with 14 points, 12 assists and only one turnover. He was masterful at getting into the lane and breaking the defence down. He changes speeds as well aas anyone in the game today and is so crafty getting his shot off in traffic.ddddddddddddGood to see that the nagging hamstring issue wasnt a problem. A major impact guy when hes right - and was he ever right! 4. KEVIN DURANT AND RUSSELL WESTBROOK (Thunder): Played 41 and 36 minutes respectively in Game 1. I know Westbrook has had knee issues, but whatever extra few minutes he can play - hes gotta play. And if Im Scott Brooks, I dont ever substitute KD out of the game. With no Serge Ibaka they need their best players to play every possible minute. Will be a significant chore to overcome that challenge. 5. OKCS OTHER STARTERS (Nick Collison/Kendrick Perkins/Thabo Sefolosha): A combined five points on 2-10 shooting in Game 1? Seriously? Man I feel for Scott Brooks - hes searching for answers and more importantly if these guys continue to be ineffective it allows the Spurs to leave them and Gang up defensively on Westbrook and Durant, making them take even more difficult shots. You must have shot makers and guys who you have to guard who space the floor out. If not, the court gets very congested and your stars are limited in the types of quality possessions they have. Cant win this series with this type drag on your offense from three struggling players. They pick it up and they give The Big Two a fighting chance - thats all you ask for. ' ' '