Australian Open: Federer overcomes Nadal in five sets to clinch 18th major

Roger Federer has won the Australian Open title and gained his 18^th grand slam crown as the Swiss maestro beat his long-time rival Rafael Nadal in their highly anticipated encounter, winning 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3. In a thoroughly gripping contest, Nadal responded twice from a set down and was initially leading with an early break in the decider, but Federer’s persistent aggression was eventually too much as he staged an extraordinary comeback to seal a momentous win.

In the first set, both players held serve comfortably early on but Federer’s forceful play and powerful groundstrokes was rewarded at 3-3 as the Swiss maestro seized the crucial break when Nadal planted a backhand wide. Federer quickly consolidated the break for a 5-3 lead and he went on to comfortably wrap up the set, to take the lead.

However, Nadal made an emphatic start to the second set as the combination of his relentless play to the Federer backhand and a series of errors by his opponent saw the Spaniard open up a commanding 4-0 lead. Even though Federer did well to gain one break back and reduce the deficit, Nadal refused to relinquish the advantage and just like his opponent, impressively closed out the set on his serve to level the match at one set apiece.

As the third set unfolded, Federer was under early pressure in his first service game but he survived break points with a series of timely aces to cling onto his serve. This proved to be a crucial moment as Federer grew in confidence with his aggressive tennis, breaking Nadal in the following game en route to establishing a 3-0 lead with an emphatic hold of serve. Even though Nadal battled hard, the Spaniard simply couldn’t handle the onslaught of devastating shot-making from his opponent and Federer fully capitalised, producing an inch perfect return to claim the double break. Serving at 5-1 up, the Swiss maestro was in stunning form and he secured the set with a delicate volley at the net to regain the lead in the contest.

In the fourth set, Nadal did well to just keep ahead in the scoreline early on and at 2-1 up, the Spaniard pounced on a loose game from his opponent to gain the break when Federer netted a volley. Even though the Swiss maestro pushed to force the break back, Nadal just held his opponent off and consolidated the break in sensational fashion, somehow returning Federer’s probing backhand with a remarkable sliced winner to forge a 4-1 lead. The Swiss maestro kept the deficit to a single break but Nadal maintained his solid form on serve, wrapping up the set to force a decider.

As the fifth set got underway, Federer’s serve was under threat due to Nadal’s strong form and the Spaniard struck in the first game of the set, claiming the break when Federer fired a forehand wide. The Swiss maestro was denied on break points in Nadal’s next few service games but Federer refused to lie down and continued to attack. With Nadal under further extreme pressure at 3-2 up, this time the Spaniard succumbed to his opponent by placing a forehand just wide to allow Federer to level the scoreline at 3-3. Federer swiftly moved 4-3 up and continued to build on the momentum, crafting three break points with yet more offensive shot-making. Even though Nadal showed incredible resilience to save all of them, Federer was relentless in forcing the issue. The game had become tense yet highly pulsating, but Federer eventually converted an opportunity, breaking his opponent with an angled backhand return that extracted the crucial error from Nadal.

Now serving at 5-3 up and for the championship, yet another dramatic game ensued as Nadal battled back to hold break points, but Federer responded magnificently to erase the opportunities for his opponent. Even though the Swiss maestro failed to capitalise on his first match point, he set up another with a timely ace and this time Federer held his nerve, with a hawk-eye replay confirming that he had swept a forehand winner on the line past Nadal to complete a remarkable victory.

With his fifth tournament win in Melbourne, Federer has claimed a record 18^th grand slam major and is now four ahead of Nadal, who currently holds 14 major honours.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams won her 23^rd grand slam trophy and set an open era record of singles titles by beating her sister Venus 6-4 6-4 in the final. Having gained her seventh Australian Open crown and achieving such an historic feat, Serena also will regain the world number one ranking from Angelique Kerber.