Novak Djokovic Wins Epic Thriller Over Rafael Nadal

NOVAK Djokovic's extraordinary juggernaut rolls on after the Serb this morning claimed the longest Grand Slam final in history.

Condemning Rafael Nadal to a record third consecutive major final loss, exhausted Djokovic posted a 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 Australian Open triumph - a victory for the ages.

On rubbery legs and fighting mental and physical exhaustion, Djokovic clambered off the canvas from 2-4 down in the fifth set to do it.

Fittingly, the 100th Australian men's final was the longest in Grand Slam history at 5hrs 53mins.

Defending champion Djokovic's third Melbourne Park title - and fifth major overall - was sealed at 1.37am local time.

It will live with with the Serb forever, such was its epic nature.

With nothing more to give in the final game of the match, Djokovic crossed himself and glanced skywards afte saving a break point.

He did so again on the following point after earning match point.

Djokovic slumped to the court in relief and elation and Nadal trudged towards the net after missing a forehand.

It was only the third decider to go the distance at Melbourne Park after Pat Cash and Mats Wilander (1988) and Nadal and Roger Federer (2009).

Djokovic, 24, has now beaten Nadal seven times in a row - and in each of the past three Grand Slam deciders at Wimbledon, US Open and the Australian.

The Serb relentlessly pounded Nadal's second serve to expose gaping holes in the Spaniard's defence to land his fifth major, joining Andre Agassi. Roger Federer and Mats Wilander as the only men to win three or more Australian crowns since 1968.

In much the same way Nadal relishes his stroke-for-stroke match-up with Federer, Djokovic exerts a similar thrall over Nadal.

The critical difference last night was the second serve. Djokovic operated at 64 percent. Nadal landed 45 percent.

It was a similar scenario at Wimbledon and the US Open.

In becoming only the fourth male since Rod Laver in 1969 to claim three consecutive majors - Pete Sampras, Federer and Nadal are the others - Djokovic proved again he is clearly the sport's premier player.

Supposedly exhausted after a protracted semi-final against Andy Murray on Friday night, he overcame a sluggish start in sultry conditions to have Nadal on the ropes deep into the fourth set.

Holding three break points for a 5-3 lead, Djokovic could not capitalise as the Spaniard steamed back into the contest.

And when Nadal held a commanding 4-2 lead in the deciding set, Djokovic somehow summoned the nerve and energy to draw back on terms.

He made the title-sealing inroad in the 11th game, when Nadal netted a weary backhand to earn the right to serve out the match.

For most of the contest, he was superior in defence and attack, mentally besting Nadal to inflict another serious pyschological wound on his arch-rival.

In the end, it was a dogfight.

Djokovic emerged with a $2.3million winner's cheque and the satisfaction of overcoming three sizeable obstacles - having 24 hours less to recover from that mammoth semi-final, giving up a first-set lead in the final and coming back from the dead in the deciding set.

Dipping into bottomless reserves after appearing to be spent after narrowly accounting for Murray on Friday night, Djokovic out-ran and outlasted the owner of 10 majors.

If it wasn't Djokovic's cleanest or most dazzling display, it ranks as his bravest.

In a contest that will be remembered for tension and high drama, there was a Grand Slam first when Nadal challenged one of his own serves - and was proved wrong by Hawk-Eye.

The serve, in the 10th game of the second set, was actually in, but Nadal had lost the rally and was hoping to earn a replayed serve.

In the end, he lost both a challenge and the point.

While there is nothing but shared respect between Nadal and Federer, it ia now increasingly obvious that the Spaniard has little time for Djokovic.

The Mallorcan glared at the world No. 1 and his support box after their prolonged celebration of Nadal's double fault to surrender the second set.

Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Rafael Nadal after the longest final in Grand Slam history. Picture: AFP

Source: AFP

While grunting has been an issue for discussion at Melbourne Park over the past two weeks, the men's final was marred by long, irksome delays between points.

French chair umpire Pascal Maria's problems started before the match when the warm-up went overtime.

And once the match started, the 20-second allowance between points was regularly flouted, often dragging out to 30 seconds or longer.

Unsurprisingly, the first set lasted 80 minutes - only two minutes short of the time Victoria Azarenka took to whip Maria Sharapova in the women's final on Saturday night.

Losing patience in the heavy, uncomfortable conditions, Maria asked Nadal to hurry up after the end of the first set.

The second set took 66 minutes, while the third (45), fourth (88) and fifth ()were drawn out affairs.

Rain stopped play briefly at 4-all in the fourth set, prompting staff to close the roof while the court was dried.

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Nadal Again Proves Federer's Nemesis

THE question this match posed was only marginally about who would play possibly Novak Djokovic in the final and potentially win another cup to go on shelves in either Basel or Mallorca that already bow with the bounty of previous victories.

This match rather posed the question of whether Roger Federer at 30 and having not defeated the younger man in a grand slam since Wimbledon in 2007, could still beat Rafael Nadal — in a grand slam that is. It was a question you sensed Federer wanted to know the answer to more than anyone.

The answer is no. Nadal last night won in four sets 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. "It's just amazing [the long history with Roger]," said Nadal afterwards, characteristically humble and deferential to Federer. "It's fantastic to have one player in front of me. You saw him with no mistakes he had the complete game. I always saw one player in front of me better than me."

Not now he doesn't. And not for some time. Twice in the last two years Federer had defeated Nadal at consecutive ATP World Tour finals. But in the last dozen meetings between them the record was 9-3 to Nadal and in grand slams the record was poorer — Nadal had won all four matches at slams since that Wimbledon loss.

On this court in 2009 Federer wept upon defeat and the thought that he had ceded his turf — or hard court as the case happened to be — to his rival. On this court, in the first grand slam rematch for them, Federer last night sought to re-claim his ground and re-establish that he was back on even terms with Nadal.

He fell short. Nadal brings something out in Federer that other players, not even world No. 1 Djokovic, elicits.

It is a hesitancy and a uncertainty in his play. He second guesses his movement and choice. Against Nadal he seemed to need to remind himself to get forward, to get to the net, to rumble Nadal's momentum, in ways that he does seemingly without conscious thought against others.

Maybe it is the left-hander thing and that Nadal, playing at the technical and physical level he does, offers angles others do not. Technically that may be the case. Practically the effect of the losses to Nadal is that Federer seems to be play this game on a mental not physical level.

Illustrating the mindset in each of the first three sets, Federer claimed the early break of serve only to cede his later, twice it was in the very next game.

The match was of a level befitting of the players and the moment, and clearly the best of the tournament. Which is not to say it was tennis without fault — Federer's serving was poor, his forehand at times ragged and Nadal tight on his backhand. But the contest was superb. There were fireworks outside the arena which interrupted the match but only appeared dull by contrast to that happening inside. As it should be.

After the first set, which Federer won in a tie-breaker, there was a palpable sense that mentally and in terms of confidence — as if a man with 16 grand slam titles needs confidence — it was more important to Federer that he had done so.

Occasionally the tennis beggared belief. Such as when, in the second set, Nadal lifted a ball almost from the cameraman's lens way off court and squeezed it into the court to set up three break points. Federer saved two but not the third. Nadal had the break. He soon had the set. Federer was under siege. The match was back level but it was Nadal who was on the front foot and Federer clinging on.

Nadal closed it out on his second match point. Once more he had vanquished Roger.

Source

Nadal, Federer to meet in Australian Open Semi Finals

The intensity was vintage Rafael Nadal.

On the stroke of midnight, he thrust his arms up and punched the air, sealing the victory that sets up the most anticipated semifinal at the Australian Open in quite some time.

Roger Federer did his part to put this in place. In the previous match on Rod Laver Arena, he beat 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in a quarterfinal marking his 1,000th tour-level match.

A Federer-Nadal semifinal had been looming since the draw for the season's first major — the first time the pair have been in the same half at a Grand Slam tournament since 2005.

Playing with a new racket and a heavily taped right knee, Nadal was at his demonstrative best, rallying after losing the first set to beat Tomas Berdych 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3.

Yelling "Vamos," disputing line calls, pumping his arms after winning big points and bounding around like a hyperactive kid, Nadal ripped winner after winner against Berdych in a 4-hour, 16-minute display of pure intimidation.

He said he was nervous in the first set — he'd lost in the quarterfinals two straight years — but by the third and fourth sets things had indeed changed.

"The character on court, the way to win the points ... the level is very positive, much, much better than the end of the season," he said. "Semifinals is fantastic result for me."

Federer finished his match with one of his classic, one-handed backhands against Del Potro, one of only two men who have beaten him in a major final. The other is Nadal, who has done it six times.

That lopsided record aside, there's a touch of extra tension this time in this usually cordial rivalry. Nadal had told Spanish reporters during a discussion about player discontent that Federer liked to protect his reputation as a gentleman by saying nothing negative in public and letting others "burn."

Both have since played down the comments. On Tuesday, Federer said it didn't damage their relationship.

"No. No. Honestly, no," he said. "It was here for one day and then gone again. I'm happy about that because it didn't deserve more attention than it did. So for me, it's another great match with Rafa. ... Obviously I'd like to play Rafa because of our great epic match earlier in the finals here a few years ago."

Thursday's match will be the first time they have met at Melbourne Park since Nadal won the 2009 title in five seesawing sets. Nadal collected the trophy from the great Rod Laver after consoling Federer as he sobbed in the background.

"We are talking about a player who has won 16 Grand Slams, and I've won 10," Nadal said. "We have played a lot of matches together, many in very important moments for our careers. So the matches against him are always special, even if we are (ranked) 20 against 25."

One of the women's semifinals is already set up, with defending champion Kim Clijsters showing too much experience in a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Caroline Wozniacki, who remains without a major title and will now lose her No. 1 ranking.

Clijsters has a left ankle sprain that requires almost constant treatment, but expects to be fit for the next match against third-seeded Victoria Azarenka, one of the three women who can finish the tournament with the top ranking.

The two others — Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova — could meet in the other semifinal.

Kvitova ended the run of unseeded Italian Sara Errani with a 6-4, 6-4 win in Wednesday's opening match on Rod Laver Arena to reach the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the first time.

Sharapova is up against Ekaterina Makarova in an all-Russian match later. No. 56-ranked Makarova is coming off a straight-set win over five-time Australian champion Serena Williams.

Defending men's champion Novak Djokovic has an evening match against No. 5 David Ferrer, who beat Nadal in the quarterfinals last year. Djokovic overtook Nadal and Federer for the No. 1 ranking last year by winning three of the four majors, starting with an Australian Open final win over Andy Murray. Murray takes on No. 24 Kei Nishikori of Japan on Wednesday.

Given the dominance last season of the top four, a Djokovic vs. Murray semifinal seems most likely. In 2009, the competition was considered more of a two-man race.

Federer was aiming to equal Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles and was confident despite entering the Australian Open with the No. 2 ranking.

Nadal had fended off Fernando Verdasco in 5-hour, 14-minute late night semifinal — the longest match at the Australian Open — and said he could barely walk, let alone practice the following day. He'd also had a day less to prepare for the final than Federer did. Still, he became the first Spaniard to win the Australian title.

Nadal has won 17 of their 26 head-to-head matches overall, including a 7-2 lead in Grand Slam matches. Federer won the last meeting, a 6-3, 6-0 demolition at the season-ending championship in November.

It has been almost seven years since the pair last met in the semifinals of a major.

"Yeah, it's been a long time — I don't know when the last time has been when we played in the semis of a slam," said Federer, who is usually an extremely reliable statistician. "Maybe back in 2005, maybe at the French potentially, I don't know."

For the record: Nadal won in four sets against the then No. 1-ranked Federer en route to the title at Roland Garros.

"We have been on opposite sides of the draw many times," Federer said. "I guess it's a nice changeup. OK, it doesn't allow a rematch for the Australian Open final here, you know, but I think it's good for tennis that it changes up a bit."

Nadal certainly didn't want to miss another chance at Federer. He didn't finish last year in good form and has already talked about taking time off next month to rest a sore shoulder. He hurt his knee by sitting in a chair at his hotel on the eve of his first-round match.

Nadal saved four set points in the first set against Berdych, including one with a stunning passing shot on the 29th point of a rally. But the seventh-seeded Czech persevered and won the ensuing tiebreaker.

During the tiebreaker, a shot by Berdych shot landed out and Nadal returned it, then challenged. Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes wouldn't allow it because Nadal hadn't immediately stopped play, but Nadal responded by saying he didn't challenge immediately because he thought the linesman had called it out. The replay showed the ball out and Nadal thought the umpire should have overruled.

He didn't win another point in the tiebreaker. In the second set, as Nadal lined up to serve in a key point, a man called out from the crowd: "Come on Rafa, we want a Roger-Rafa semifinal Thursday night."

Nadal obliged. Improving as he went along, Nadal hit consecutive down-the-line forehands to break Berdych early in the fourth set. Berdych did well to hold in the fifth game, which lasted 13½ minutes, but Nadal dominated from there and sealed the match with a service break as the clock struck 12.

"I started moving a little bit inside the court after I went 20 meters behind the baseline, just trying to find solution," Nadal said. "At the end of the match I finished it returning fantastic."

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Hewitt Ruins Perfect Record of Top 3 in Melbourne

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic's third-set wobble against Lleyton Hewitt spoiled a neat statistic. Had the defending champion won in three sets, the top three men would all have reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set.

The top-seeded Djokovic eventually won 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 Monday to join Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the last eight.

No. 4 Andy Murray lost the first set against first-round opponent Ryan Harrison and hasn't conceded one since. He beat Mikhail Kukushkin on Friday when the Kazakh retired while trailing 6-1, 6-1, 1-0.

The Big Four have reached the quarterfinals at five straight majors, underlining a gap between them and the rest of the field. Djokovic says it's an attention to detail that makes the difference.

"Nowadays it's very physical so you have to work very hard, you have to be dedicated, you have to take care of the smallest details off the court as well, how you organize your life, you have to be emotionally balanced," he said. "All these kind of things play a very significant role in your performance on the court."

Djokovic hasn't been out of the top four since the middle of 2007. He did admit, though, that he's still getting used to sitting at the top of the pack after a standout 2011 in which he won three of the four majors and overtook Nadal and Federer for the No. 1 ranking.

"I have to accept this life as simple as possible because you can easily get carried away," the 24-year-old Serbian said. "There is a lot of temptations, especially when you're at the top. Obviously you get more attention and more temptations to do some things that can affect your performance in a negative way."

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GLORY DAYS: Maria Sharapova is already starting to talk like her career has peaked.

Sharapova won her first major at Wimbledon in 2004, added the U.S. title in 2006 and the Australian in 2008, a year after losing the final at Melbourne Park. She had surgery on her right shoulder later that year and hasn't added to her Grand Slam collection since.

Asked about how she feels after spending about one-third of her life on tour, Sharapova said she felt "fortunate to be sitting in this position and saying that I achieved great success at 17."

"Obviously maybe if I had achieved it a few years later, I wouldn't feel like I've been on the tour for so long. But I'm certainly not complaining for that because that will probably be the highest note of my career."

Why?

"Because I never had expected that that would come to my career. I was so naive," she said. "I mean, I don't think at that point, when I had won Wimbledon, I understood what it meant.

"I thought it was just an incredible feeling, and it's Wimbledon, but I don't think I actually logically knew what I had done."

After a few years interrupted by injuries, Sharapova says she's started to regain her energy and passion after a period of time "kind of at a standstill."

She reached the final at Wimbledon last year, losing to Petra Kvitova, in her best run at a Grand Slam in three years.

"I'm 24 years old, almost 25. I love this sport as much as I loved it, you know, when I was at that age," she said. "I've also been through a lot of tough times. I've also said the success that I can achieve, the fact that I got myself back to being top five in the world, playing tennis again, playing at a high level, competing at this level is pretty remarkable from where I was on a surgery table, not knowing if I'd ever be able to hit a serve again.

"So just a lot of perspective. If I do achieve a Grand Slam win, something on that level, there's no doubt that that will be another big moment in my career."

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SOLE SISTERS: Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki share a sporting interest outside tennis.

Both date professional golfers — Ivanovic is involved with Australia's Adam Scott; Wozniacki with Rory McIlroy, the Northern Irishman who won the last U.S. Open.

Ivanovic has been with Scott for a while, spending the last couple of offseasons in Australia, so had some advice when Wozniacki came asking about the traps of dating a golfer.

"She did ask me like what kind of shoes should I take to walk on the course," Ivanovic said after her fourth-round loss to Petra Kvitova on Monday, when Scott was in the crowd at Rod Laver Arena. The answer, for the record: "Just the most comfortable ones."

Hewitt, Tomic Last Aussies Standing

So often the last man standing at an Australian Open, Lleyton Hewitt remains upright in the tournament’s third round in defiance of many tipsters.

Hewitt joined Bernard Tomic as the only remaining Australians in the singles draw with a second-round victory on Thursday night after 15th seed Andy Roddick retired with a hamstring injury.

Hewitt held a two sets to one advantage at the time.

Tomic’s credentials as the spear-carrier for Australian tennis will be put to the test on Friday night when he takes on 13th seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov on centre court.

But Hewitt, whose 16th Australian Open is one of very few in which he has not been under pressure to deliver, has reached the third round despite coming off 12 months marred by injury and lacking game time.

The 30-year-old next faces Canadian Milos Raonic on Saturday.

Roddick won the first set on Rod Laver Arena but the match changed complexion when the American stumbled awkwardly during the second – tweaking a hamstring tendon.

Hewitt clambered back into the match taking the second and third sets before Roddick succumbed to the inevitable after two hours and 10 minutes.

“In the last four years I’ve had five surgeries and last year I played just two Grand Slams and two Davis Cup ties,” Hewitt said.

“I came in here with nothing to lose, I’ll play with my heart on my sleeve and see where it gets me.”

Tomic says he’s ready for one of the biggest matches on his career against Dolgopolov – a player who has beaten him three times in the past 12 months on hard courts.

“He seems to play good tennis and bad tennis for a set. So it’s very difficult,” Tomic said.

“You have to just hold your game against him and hope for the best.

“He is a very good player and a lot of people struggle with him.”

Others in third round action on Friday include Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters.

Stosur Confident for Australian Open

Samantha Stosur is confident she can handle the pressure of expectation at next month's Australian Open, following her maiden major triumph in the US Open.

Currently ranked sixth in the world, Stosur has never advanced beyond the fourth round of her home grand slam.

The 27-year-old Queenslander said she had no problems with the court and conditions in Melbourne and there was no reason why she could not do well next month.

"I think if most players could choose to have a grand slam in their home country, they would want to have one, so I'm lucky that I do and we've got these great lead-up tournaments (in Brisbane and Sydney)," Stosur said.

"Obviously it's a little bit different, maybe a little more pressure and a bit more spotlight but I think I am equipped to handle it well and hopefully I can and really make the most of the opportunity."

Stosur said she would love the accolade of becoming the world's number-one ranked player but was not specifically focusing on that.

Stosur said she wanted to be more consistent in 2012 and was working on improving several aspects of her game.

She wants to try to get to the net more and finish points faster.

She has put her hand up for Fed Cup duty in February against Switzerland and is also prepared to play in all three disciplines - singles, doubles and mixed doubles - at next year's London Olympics.

Among her goals for 2012 are recording her first win over three other leading players, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova and Kim Clijsters.

Australian Open & Australian Open Series 2012 - Melbourne

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