Australian Open men’s final, Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal

Welcome back, Roger Federer.

The man who has been absent from grand slam finals for more than four years returned in the best possible style on one of his favourite courts in the world. He hadn’t played in an Australian Open decider since 2010, but seven years later, you could hardly notice a difference between the man we saw then compared to the man we saw on Sunday.

The Swiss won grand slam number 18 after beating fierce rival Rafael Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3. It was the fifth time he’s held the trophy aloft at Melbourne Park and the first time he’s played three five-set matches at a grand slam, after earlier epics against Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka.

“I’m out of words … I’d like to thank Rafa on an amazing comeback. I don’t think either one of us thought we were going to be in the finals in Australia when we saw each other at his academy five months ago,” Federer said in the post-match presentation.

“I would have been happy to lose to be honest, the comeback was perfect as it was. There are no draws in tennis but if there was I would have been happy to draw and share it with Rafa, really.”

In a match billed as one of the biggest in tennis history, both Federer and Nadal showed why they are, and always will be, champions. They were supposed to have made way for new tennis superstars like Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Their golden days were supposed to be over.

Apparently not.

Aussie tennis legend Todd Woodbridge rightly described the match as “out of this world” late in the fifth set.

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