Melbourne, Jan. 30: World Number One Rafael Nadal has said that he will be wary when facing Fernando Verdasco and Nadal in today's semi-final, which has just begun.

Nadal, the French Open master and Wimbledon champion, is the world No. 1 and the greatest player Spain has produced and has not lost to Verdasco in six meetings. Verdasco has not reached anything like those heights but is in career-best form, having beaten tournament favourite Andy Murray and crowd favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The two Spaniards are great mates, both are left-handers and both have impressive, heavily top-spun, forehands.

Nadal has the big artillery and the big-match pedigree. But Verdasco, dubbed this year''s tournament insurgent, will be looking to continue the Open''s knack of producing upstart finalists.

Verdasco is the older by almost three years. Since 2001, he has toiled on tour, infrequently grabbing the headlines or, more importantly, the trophy. Before this tournament, he had a career win loss record of 7-31 against top-10 opponents.

Last year, he played seven times against top-10 players, winning just once. But he had career-best grand slam results, making the fourth round at Wimbledon and the French Open. However, he was sent packing from Roland Garros, 6-1, 6-0, 6-2, by Nadal.

History, then, suggests that Verdasco stands little chance tonight. But most would have thought the same about Tsonga this time last year. (ANI)