So here was Roger Federer, down a break in the fifth set in a Grand Slam final. Across the net was his nemesis, Rafael Nadal, the left-handed Spaniard he hadn’t been able to beat in a major final in almost a decade.
The 35-year-old father of four was back in his first tour-level tournament after six months off letting his injured left knee recover, and he hadn’t won any of the big four events in tennis since Wimbledon 2012. Nadal was returning from injury, too, and somehow the pair had renewed the Roger-Rafa rivalry in a throwback Australian Open final that transcended sport.
At that moment, an 18th Grand Slam title didn’t feature in Federer’s thinking.
Don’t play the player, he reminded himself, just play the ball. Attack the serve.
With that, Federer recovered the break, and seized momentum in a roll of winning 10 consecutive points that helped propel him to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win late Sunday night. His fifth Australian title extended his buffer to four atop the list of all-time Grand Slam champions. Nadal remained tied with Pete Sampras in second place with 14.
“For me, it’s all about the comeback, about an epic match with Rafa again … that I can still do it at my age after not having won a Slam for almost five years,” Federer said.
“That’s what I see. The last problem is the Slam count — honestly, it doesn’t matter.”
Federer had lost six of the previous eight Grand Slam finals he’d played against Nadal and was 11-23 in their career meetings. His last win over Nadal in a major final was at Wimbledon in 2007.
“It remains for me the ultimate challenge to play against him,” Federer said. “It’s super sweet, because I haven’t beaten him a Grand Slam final for a long time now.
“This one means a lot to me, because he’s caused me problems over the years.”
By winning in Melbourne, where he first played in 2000 and where he kicked off his long reign at No. 1 with the title in 2004, he became the oldest man since Ken Rosewall in 1972 to win a Slam.
Federer had lost five semifinals in Australia since winning his previous title here in 2010. He’d lost three major finals since winning that last Grand Slam in 2012. He hadn’t played Nadal in a major final since losing at the French Open in 2011.
After twice rallying from a set down, Nadal was a break up in the fifth, but couldn’t hang on to become the first man in the Open era to win each of the four majors twice. Instead, Federer became the first man in the Open era to win three of Grand Slam events at least five times (seven Wimbledon titles, five U.S. Opens, five Australian Opens and one French Open).
“The magnitude of this match is going to feel different. I can’t compare this one with any other one except for maybe the French Open in ’09,” Federer said. “I waited for the French Open, I tried, I fought. I tried again and failed. Eventually I made it. This feels similar, yeah.”