On the other side of the net stood his redoubtable rival Rafael Nadal, and he, too, recognized the magnitude of the moment. Nadal headed into Melbourne having not won a Grand Slam championship since he secured his ninth French Open crown back in June of 2014. The Spaniard missed the 2014 U.S. Open with a wrist injury, and could not defend his title there. In 2015 and 2016, plagued by more injuries including a left wrist issue, he never advanced beyond the quarterfinals at the majors. Nadal had to withdraw before his third round match at Roland Garros last year when his left wrist flared up. He did not return until the Olympics, when he was still compromised by the wrist. At the U.S. Open, he squandered a 4-3, 30-0 fifth set lead against Lucas Pouille in the round of 16.
Nadal played two more tournaments in the autumn but was plainly below part at Beijing and Shanghai in losses to Grigor Dimitrov and Viktor Troicki. The Spaniard did not compete again in 2016. He needed time to heal. He wanted to prepare himself for a healthier 2017. Nadal looked reasonably good in his warmup ATP World Tour event in Brisbane, but lost a match in the quarterfinals of Brisbane 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 against Raonic that he once would have won. He was seeded ninth in this tournament while Federer was seeded 17th. But both men survived two five set skirmishes en route to the final. Federer ousted Kei Nishikori in the round of 16 and Stan Wawrinka in the penultimate round. Nadal went the distance with the immensely promising No. 24 seed Alexander Zverev and again in a spellbinding encounter with Dimitrov that lasted four hours and 56 minutes in the semifinals.
So Federer and Nadal had both been fully battle tested. They had triumphed at a time when not many experts believed they could do it. Having achieved that, they set up what was from an historical standpoint the biggest match of their careers. Either Federer would win an 18th major and widen his lead over Nadal, or the Spaniard would collect a 15th Grand Slam championship and move within two majors of his old rival. There could not have been more riding on the outcome of this showdown. Federer was fighting against a fierce current of history. He walked on court with a 11-23 head to head record versus the formidable lefty, and that included defeats in nine of their eleven meetings at the majors and six of eight final round Grand Slam tournament appointments. He had lost three times to Nadal in Melbourne, bowing in a classic five set final eight years ago, dropping a pair of semifinals fought out in 2012 and 2014.
Out on the court tonight in front of an exhilarated audience, with millions more watching their every move on television sets and computers all over the world, the two icons put on a remarkable show. Across five sets, with countless shifts in momentum, through a long evening lasting more than three hours and thirty eight minutes, Federer prevailed in a riveting showdown 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. In a role reversal of sorts, he outcompeted the man who has so often been the stronger man mentally at the end of strenuous and stressful contests. Federer pulled off a feat in this encounter that had never managed before against a player who had haunted him in so many hard fought battles across the years. He rallied from a service break down in the final set to deny the Spaniard a victory that seemed almost certain. It was Federer this time who was tougher mentally in the crunch. It was Federer who seemed to want the win even more than an adversary renowned for his capacity to come through in the crunch. It was Federer who believed in himself when the chips were on the line.
Most tellingly, Federer played this match more on his terms than Nadal did. He largely set the tempo, refusing to let Nadal dictate frequently enough off the forehand, remaining ultra aggressive at all times, and not permitting the Spaniard to ever settle into any kind of comfortable backcourt rhythm. The Swiss was swinging freely off both sides and he kept backing Nadal up with the sting of his shots and a clear-minded strategy that he has seldom exhibited against a fellow who has confounded him almost incessantly on the premier stages.
