He's No Joke

Two of the greatest players in tennis history,
made history Sunday night in Melbourne.

It was brutal, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking and triumphant.

In Rod Laver's fortress, two of the greatest professional tennis players of this generation battled it out in not only the longest match in Australian Open history, but the longest for a Grand Slam final.

It took five hours, 53 minutes, but (1) Novak Djovokic continued his recent dominance over (2) Rafael Nadal, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 7-5, becoming only the fifth player since the Open Era to win three straight Grand Slam finals and four out of the last five.

After Nadal captured the first set with Djovokic still feeling the effects of his marathon match with Andy Murray just two nights earlier, the 2011 Player of the Year found his rhythm and took control of the second and third set, winning them both convincingly.

We'd seen this seen before.

But with the crowd firmly in Nadal's corner, his trademark personality of tenacity and heart turned the tide, at least for the moment.

Facing a two set to one deficit and Djovokic leading the fourth set four games to three, Nadal dug deep. The 10-time Grand Slam champion finned off three straight break points down 40-love to hold serve and knot the set at four games apiece.

The fourth would eventually be decided by a tiebreak with Nadal dropping to his knees after Djovokic's shot went wide, forcing a decisive fifth set. In their previous 29 career meetings with Nadal holding a 16-13 advantage, the both had to play a fifth set.

Nadal imposed his will on the fifth, breaking Djovokic the second chance he got and eventually going up four games to two. But it was a shot that Nadal makes in his sleep that will give hime nightmares for the rest of his life. Leading the game 30-15 and Djovokic on the ropes, the Spaniard missed an easy backhand that would have had him one point away from taking a commanding five games to two lead.

Instead, Djovokic gathered his fifth wind and got the look in eyes that his opponents saw all of 2011. A look that lead him to a 10-1 record against Nadal and Roger Federer last year. The look of a champion.

Djovokic would break Nadal twice in the matches' final six games, seizing the lead and his third career Australian Open. He has now won seven straight matches against Nadal, all coming in finals, 14 straight Australian Open matches and 20 straight Grand Slam matches.

The 24-year-old Serbian had never won back-to-back five-set matches in a major tournament until he thwarted Murray and outran Nadal.

The two have now combined for the last eight Grand Slam titles.

As for Nadal, he becomes first player in the Open Era to lose three straight Grand Slam finals, but has nothing to hang his head about. Wearing his emotions on his sleeves, Nadal's poise and graciousness in defeat is what makes him a true champion and heartbeat of professional tennis.

Usually it was Nadal's high energy and overall physical condition that has enabled him to outlast his opponent. This time is was Djovokic, beating him at his own game.

One-Sided Rivalry

In a hard-fought win, Nadal holds an 8-2
career record against Federer in Grand
 Slam matches.

It wasn't easy, it never is.

Rafael Nadal continued his dominance, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4, over the suddeningly aging Roger Federer on Thursday night.

While many in the United States were unable to watch the match live, after losing the first set in a tiebreaker, Nadal reeled of three straight set wins to earn a berth to play for his second Australian Open title in as many attempts.

Nadal won his first and only Australian Open back in 2009, handing Federer his first ever loss in the final.

It was only the second time these two rivals have met in a Grand Slam semifinal, usually reserving their matches with a title on the line. They have now faced one another 10 times in a Grand Slam with Nadal holding an eight-two advantage, including five consecutive Grand Slam match wins. Federer's last major win against Nadal came in 2007.

The southpaw, who is currently ranked the No. 2 player in the world, has won 10 career Grand Slam titles, six of them have come at the expense of Federer.

Nadal's only two Grand Slam losses against Federer have come in the same tournament, same venue, Wimbledon. Federer has won six Wimbledon titles, giving him the second most all-time. He also co-holds the record for the most consecutive title victories (5) on the legendary grass court with tennis great Bjorn Borg.

However, Nadal captured his only Wimbledon title against Federer, giving him his only final loss there. It was in 2008. And after experiencing numerous rain delays, the two gladiators put together not only one of the greatest matches in the tournament's storied history, but the longest, playing for four hours, 48 minutes.

Prior to that, in 2006, Nadal was responsible for snapping Federer's Open Era record of 56 consecutive victories on hard courts.

Just like Federer, Nadal also dominated a surface, winning 81 straight matches on clay before the Switzerland native ended that in final of Hamburg Masters in '07. And even though it wasn't a Grand Slam final, it still might be one of Federer's greatest accomplishments.

Nadal has won five French Open finals in his young career while Federer's only French Open title didn't come against the Spaniard. Nadal was hampered by injury in the 2009 tournament at Roland Garros and lost to Robin Soderling in four sets.

They have never met in the U.S. Open.

As for the present, Thursday night's loss to Nadal now gives Federer 18 career losses against him, by far the most to any one opponent in his career.

Nadal awaits the winner of the tournament's second semifinal between (1) Novak Djokovic and (4) Andy Murray. Fresh off his fantastic 2011 season, Djokovic is the clear cut favorite to meet Nadal in the final, but don't count out Murray just yet.

Murray has been been to the semifinals in the last five Grand Slams. The 24-year-old has never more a Grand Slam title, but right now, Nadal might be his biggest fan.

Every player has their kryptonite, Nadal's is Djokovic.