It was a fitting end to an epic 2017 Australian Open.
And it was so good, in fact, that the winner said during the trophy ceremony that he would have been happy if it had ended in a tie–or even a loss.
But without any exceptions, tennis matches and tennis tournaments can only end well for one player, and that one player on Sunday night in Melbourne was Roger Federer. Federer’s third five-set victory of the fortnight gave him Grand Slam title No. 18 and Aussie Open title No. 5, which he clinched by outlasting long-time rival Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 after three hours and 37 minutes.
Although the fifth proved to be a nail-biting thriller that was nowhere close to being decided until the final shot was shown to be in, no set was particularly competitive in terms of the scoreline. Federer took control in the first, breaking for 4-3 and holding his next two service games with the loss of just one point. Nadal hit back in the second, seizing a 4-0 lead before mostly cruising from there despite giving one of the breaks back. The two former world No. 1s took turns gaining the upper hand in the third and fourth, as well, with Federer once again inching ahead only to see Nadal respond in emphatic fashion.
That paved the way to a dramatic decider, which lasted only nine games but packed an unforgettable punch in a short amount of time.
Nadal delivered the first blow, but it was not enough to knock Federer out. After dropping his initial service game to fall behind 1-0 and then 2-0, the Swiss eventually broke back to get on level terms at 3-3. That ignited a streak of five straight games in Federer’s favor after he trailed 3-1. His second break of the set came in an incredible game with Nadal serving at 3-4, which ended when Federer forced the Spaniard into an error with a perfect cross-court forehand return.
The 35-year-old served thing out in clutch fashion one game later, but not before fighting back from a 15-40 deficit. Federer eventually converted his second championship point with a forehand winner off the sideline that Nadal unsuccessfully challenged.
Highlights:
“I kept on fighting,” Federer explained. “I kept on believing–like I did all match long today–that there was a possibility I could win this match. I think that’s what made me play my best tennis at the very end.”
“I think [it was] a great match,” Nadal assured. “I enjoyed to be part of it. I fought to try to have the trophy with me. I had some chances in the fifth with (a) break up. But (it) is true that after I had the break, he played very aggressive, hitting a lot of great shots. So (it) was tough to hold the serve every time.”
Holding serve every time is what Nadal managed to do in his fifth set against Grigor Dimitrov on Friday, but the Spaniard had to save three break points in two different service games in order for his lone break of the Bulgarian to be enough. Nadal survived two deuces, as well, while serving out the semifinal match at 5-4. Speaking of five-setters, Federer also went the distance in his semifinal against Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic bowed out of the tournament in a five-set, second-round stunner against Denis Istomin.
All of it set the stage for the icing on the cake, the 35th chapter of arguably tennis’ best-ever rivalry.
“It remains for me the ultimate challenge to play against him,” Federer said of Nadal. “So it’s definitely very special. I said that also before the finals: if I were to win against Rafa, it would be super special and very sweet because I haven’t beaten him in a Grand Slam final for a long, long time now. Last time I guess was 2007 at Wimbledon in a five-setter. Now I was able to do it again.
“Like I said on the court, it would have been nice for both of us to win, but there’s no draws in tennis. It’s brutal sometimes.”
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