Federer makes first Australian Open final in 7 years

Nadal on the other hand has won there twice.

“That’s exactly where I want to be standing during these Grand Slams, is on finals day, having an opportunity”, she said.

With 35-year-old Serena Williams facing her 36-year-old sister Venus in Saturday’s women’s final and a rested Federer, 35, waiting for Nadal on Sunday, it is the first time in the open era that all four grand slam finalists have been over 30. I also think we shouldn’t be using these rules or abusing the system. Will we see tears again from the 18-time champion?

But with Federer trailing 3-1, he finally broke through.

While the Swiss maestro is now on 17 majors, Rafael Nadal – popularly known as the “King of Clay” – is breathing down his neck with an impressive haul of 14.

Federer had a medical timeout for treatment on his upper right leg and was broken in his first service game of the deciding set. This time, Federer steeled his mind, got the advantage, but it wasn’t over.

But his celebrations were delayed after Nadal challenged the call. He then knelt down on the court, as if to thank the tennis gods.

Friday night’s victory over Dimitrov was Nadal’s eighth in nine career meetings with the Bulgarian, who played in a major semi-final for the second time after first reaching the final four at Wimbledon in 2014.

The third-seeded twins were trying to win their 17th Grand Slam title, which would have tied them with John Newcombe.

Federer became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title since Ken Rosewall in the 1972 Australian Open.

“At the same time it was an honor for me to play a match like that against him”.

Federer has won in France only once. He will rise to No. 10.

Ivan Ljubicic, who joined Federer’s entourage a year ago, and Severin Luthi, a long-time member of his coaching team, led the celebrations in Federer’s player box. “I played my best tennis at the end of the match”. “So was a great quality of tennis”, he said.

It was a match full of remarkable drama and some excellent tennis, though in terms of quality it could not compare with some of their previous finals.

But they did it painstakingly, with both showing a lot of fight in the games that went to five sets. And that’s exactly what the two great rivals, mutual legends, and friends just did.

Add to that the difficulty of the draw, Tomas Berdych in the third round, Kei Nishikori in the 4th round, Stan Wawrinka in the semis and his great rival Rafa in the final, this will be remembered as Federer’s greatest achievement.

Even a mentally tired and physically debilitated Nadal found time for nostalgia when asked about the romantic final after his win over Dimitrov.

Federer, who had not won a major since his Wimbledon success in 2012, was full of praise for his old foe after the Spaniard also overcame injury problems to defy the odds and come so close to winning a 15th grand slam title. “I couldn’t have written a better story”. “Today, a great match, probably Roger deserved it a little bit more than me”.