Australian Open | Roger Federer wins his 18th Grand Slam in another classic against Nadal
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal produced a match for the ages in another classic final between these two rivals, and this time it was the Swiss who came out on the top with 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win. It was the 5th Australian Open title for the 35-year-old and his 18th Grand Slam title overall.
Roger Federer started the match with his service game on
It was obvious from the first set that Nadal needed to lift his game to stay with Federer and like the 30-year-old has done for the most of his career, he fought back immediately. Nadal came out all guns blazing in the second set and raced to a 4-0 lead by breaking Federer twice. The Spaniard was moving the Swiss around the court at will, generating inconceivable angles with his racquet. A lot of mistakes began to creep into Federer’s forehand shots, and his service game took a nosedive as well. Although Federer got a break back in the fifth game, Nadal closed out the second set at 6-3 with an outstanding service game.
Nadal kept attacking Federer’s backhand with his serves in the second set, and the 35-year-old came up with answers for that in the third set. But first, he snuffed out three break points for Nadal with three aces, before producing a couple of magical forehand winners on his way to
Federer lifted his game to another level in the third set. He kept producing winners which even Rafa could not chase down. Soon, he broke Rafa’s serve once again to go 5-1 up, before winning the second set 6-1.
The 2-1 lead appeared to have relaxed Federer a bit too much, and Nadal, who refuses to go away, saw the opening in the fourth set. The Spaniard changed his serving tactics a bit and kept attacking Federer’s body with his serves. With his indomitable spirit at the forefront, Nadal took a 3-1 lead after breaking Federer in the fourth game.
Federer threatened to break back immediately, but Nadal produced what was perhaps the shot of the tournament so far with his backhand to hold at 4-1. The rest of the set was a relative cruise for the Spaniard who won it 6-3.
With the match in the balance, Federer opted for a medical break at the start of the fifth set. However, that break did not take the momentum away from Nadal, who broke the Swiss in the first game of the fifth set.
The rallies kept getting longer, as Nadal kept retrieving the ball. Federer was made to hit world class winners to win points, and he nearly broke back immediately in the second game. However, Nadal, however, squashed two break points to maintain his lead.
Under normal circumstances, Nadal would have broken the spirit of most of his opponents by that point. But somehow, Federer almost borrowed the unputdownable spirit of Rafa and from 1-3 down in the fifth set, he brought it back to 4-3, producing a masterclass of tennis which will be replayed to budding youngsters for ages to come.
His backhand like a fire-laden weapon produced winners after winners, and he broke
A few hawk-eye calls, nervous screams from the crowd, and a forehand winner later, Roger Federer returned to the top of tennis once again with his 18th Grand Slam title.
After knocking on the door, Federer broke through it and after an epic battle which had last three hours and 31 minutes, Federer served for his fifth Australian Open title!