MELBOURNE, Australia — It was not quite another tennis masterpiece. The much-anticipated rematch between
Rafael Nadal and
Roger Federer lacked the consistent quality and, above all, the crescendo finish of their five-act drama in fading light at Wimbledon last year.
But this Australian Open final was certainly epic entertainment, too. It also lasted five sets and more than four hours. It also featured plenty of abrupt reversals of fortune and unexpected breaks of serve, and it also ended with Nadal triumphant and Federer devastated.
Federer, the 27-year-old Swiss star, needed just one more victory to match Pete Sampras’s all-time record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles. But he faded badly in the final set on Sunday night and was then unable to keep his composure after Nadal’s 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 victory.
In the post-match ceremony, Federer choked up after receiving the runner’s-up plate from one of his idols, Rod Laver, and was unable to get more than a few sentences into his speech to the crowd before he began to cry in earnest.
"God it’s killing me," he said, eventually backing away from the microphone.
But this historic rivalry, one of the best in any sport, is also a friendly rivalry, despite all the power and spin these two well-mannered young men employ against each other when they are on opposite sides of a net. And so it was no surprise that Nadal, the first Spanish player to win the Australian championship, was soon putting his left arm around Federer, putting his head against Federer’s and helping him pull himself back together just long enough to finish the speech.
"I don’t want to have the last word; this guy deserves it," Federer said. "So Rafa, congratulations. You played incredible. You deserve it man."
It is difficult to argue with that last sentence. To even reach the final, the top-seeded Nadal had to win the longest match in Australian Open history in the semifinals: a five-set, 5-hour-14-minute classic against his compatriot Fernando Verdasco. He then had one day less than the second-seeded Federer to prepare for the 19th installment of their rivalry: undergoing intense physical therapy in an attempt to recover the freshness of mind and body required to repulse a man on a mission.
"I knew it was not going to affect him a lot," Federer said of Nadal’s abbreviated preparation. "It did not have any role to play in it, so I was ready for that."
Nadal was not nearly so certain that he would be in fine shape. After getting to sleep at 5 a.m. Saturday following his Friday night marathon with Verdasco, he woke at 1 p.m. He practiced lightly that afternoon and again on Sunday afternoon.
"I was having a bit of trouble practicing," he said. "I felt a little light-headed when I practiced yesterday and today. I was pretty concerned, not being sure whether I could be at my best. It’s tough feeling that way when it’s your first final in Australia and you’re not sure you’re going to be 100 percent. But in the end everything worked out well for me."
It was hardly a straightforward process. Nadal would need 4 hours 23 minutes to finish off Federer, who actually won one more point than the Spaniard. Nadal would need to rally from 2-4 down in the first set, breaking Federer in the following game with the help of two phenomenal winners on the run. He would need to save all six break points he faced in the third set: the same set when he twice received changeovers on treatment for a right thigh that was feeling ominously tight.
"Winning the third was vital," Nadal said. "It would have gotten very complicated if I had lost that set."
He would also need Federer, a three-time Australian Open champion, to serve much less convincingly than usual. The Swiss put only 52 percent of his first serves in play on Sunday, which was by far his lowest percentage of the tournament. One of the most remarkable statistics from this remarkable match was that Federer managed to win the second set with a first-serve percentage of just 37 percent.
"Perhaps I should not have been out there in the fifth set at all," said Federer, still red-eyed an hour after the match. "I should have won the first set and the third. The rest of the story, we all know it."Nadal, the swashbuckling 22-year-old from the Spanish island of Majorca, was considered a clay court specialist early in his career. But he is now well on his way to becoming one of the game’s great multi-surface champions. He has won the last four French Opens on clay, last year’s Wimbledon title on grass and has now won his first Grand Slam title on a hard court.
"It is a dream to win here," Nadal said. "I’ve worked very hard the last, well, all my life to improve the tennis outside of clay."
Nadal also has helped win tennis’s premier team competition, the Davis Cup, for Spain as well as last year’s Olympic gold medal in singles on a hard court in Beijing. The only major title he is missing is the United States Open, where he was beaten in the semifinals last year.
But Nadal, for all the fire and brimstone in his flashy left-handed game, is also a self-effacing champion: one who has continued to affirm that Federer is the greatest player of all time even as he continues to build on his career edge against him.
Once he took the microphone himself on Sunday, with the trophy in his hands, his first words were for his opponent. "Well, first of all, sorry for today," he said, turning to face Federer. "I really know how you feel right now. It’s really tough. Remember you are a great champion. You are the best in history."
Nadal then said that he was convinced Federer would beat Sampras’s record.
Perhaps Federer will, but for now, the younger man — however respectful — who keeps blocking his path is Nadal. The Spaniard has won five of the seven Grand Slam finals they have played, including the last three. His career edge overall against Federer stands at 13-6 and the only surface on which Federer continues to hold a statistical advantage is on grass, where the Swiss has won two of their three matches.
"I don’t think there’s any trick to it; I’m not that smart," Nadal said. ’We’ve played many matches. I’ve won some. He’s won some. One of us has always been number one when we play, so the matches are always tough. I always have tried to go on court believing I can win and giving my best, thinking that if I don’t give my best and play my best I’m not going to beat a player like Roger."
This final was the first to go five sets at the Australian Open since 1988, when Mats Wilander beat Pat Cash. But the roar that was heard in Rod Laver Arena when Federer held serve to even the match at two sets apiece was soon replaced by the groans and awkward silences that accompany an anticlimax.
Federer, suddenly looking sluggish and off rhythm, was broken in the fourth game of the final set, blowing a 30-0 lead on his serve by losing four straight points: three with unforced errors from the baseline and another with a double fault.
That gave Nadal a 3-1 edge that he would never surrender. Federer won just two points on Nadal’s final two service games as he kept missing returns with his one-handed backhand, a shot that blew hot and cold throughout the match.
Serving to stay in the final at 2-5, Federer quickly fell behind 15-40. Though he would save two match points as Nadal made uncharacteristic backhand errors, he could not build on that brief reprieve.
At deuce, Nadal hit a backhand winner, with Federer appearing distracted by a shout of "out" from the crowd earlier in the rally. Pascal Maria, the French chair umpire, reminded the crowd to refrain from such behavior, but the point, in such cases, is not replayed.
On the next and final point, Federer knocked a forehand long and Nadal dropped immediately on his back: never more of a true number one.
But as Nadal gradually began to grasp the degree of Federer’s emotional distress, his moment of triumph also became a moment of reflection.
"Of course it can happen to all of us," he said of Federer’s breakdown during the ceremony. "It was an emotional moment, and I think this also lifts up sport, to see a great champion like Federer expressing his emotions. It shows his human side. But in these moments, when you see a rival, who is also a comrade, feeling like this, you enjoy the victory a little bit less."
