Skip navigation
Listen now:
NBC Sports: Voices of the Game with Newy Scruggs

Tennis

ATP scores | WTA scores |  Video |  ATP schedule  |  WTA schedule   | ATP rankings  |  WTA rankings  |  Tickets

Nadal denies Federer's bid for history in classic

Spaniard outduels rival Swiss star in 5 sets for first Australian Open title

Image: Nadal, FedererImage: NadalRick Stevens / AP
Rafael Nadal, left, hugs Roger Federer during the awards ceremony after Nadal's five-set victory Sunday.

Nadal flopped onto his back, then got up and raced to shake hands. The players put their arms around each other’s shoulders at the net as they walked off the court.

Although Federer actually won one more point (174-173), his serve let him down all too frequently. He connected on only 51 percent of his first serves, and it seemed as if all his six double-faults came at critical times.

And as the pressure ratcheted up in the fifth set, it was Federer who wilted, not Nadal. Federer had six winners and 14 unforced errors in the set. Nadal had just two unforced errors and dropped only three points in four service games.

Federer converted only six of his 19 break-point chances; Nadal converted seven of 16.

It was the first Australian Open men’s final to go to five sets since Mats Wilander beat Pat Cash in 1988, the first at Melbourne.

Serena Williams had one of the shortest finals on the women’s side. She lifted her level in the final, routing Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 to win her fourth Australian title, 10th major and regain the No. 1 ranking.

“I actually forgot until the end when I was saying hi to my box. They’re like, ’Hey, you’re No. 1.’ I was like, ’Oh, yeah,”’ she said.

Not that a number means everything.

“I always believe I’m the best, whether I’m No. 1 or 100,” she said. “Just having that extra bonus is pretty cool.”

After Melbourne’s hottest three-day heat wave on record, conditions were a relatively mild 79 degrees for the weekend night finals.

Williams also won the doubles with sister Venus in a doubles double for American families. Twins Bob and Mike Bryan won the men’s doubles and regained the No. 1 ranking.

More on: Rafael Nadal |  Roger Federer

© 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

< Prev | 1 | 2

advertisement
More news
2012 French Open - Day Sixteen
NBC Sports
Carillo: Looks like Rafa-Novak

  Rafael Nadal is currently ranked fourth in the world, but has had a dominant run lately as he has won seven of the last eight French Open titles. Mary Carrillo thinks we’re in store for a Nadal-Djokovic final.

Slideshow
Rafael Nadal of Spain embraces Roger Fed
  2009 champions
Take a look at action from every championship match in Melbourne, including the classic bout between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

more photos

Slideshow
Image: TENNIS-AUS-OPEN
  Scenes from Down Under
Check out the best images from the 2013 Australian Open.

NBCSports.com

Slideshow
Image: The Championships - Wimbledon 2012: Day Thirteen
  The best of Wimbledon
The best images from the Grand Slam tournament at the All-England Club.

NBC Sports

Video
  French Open 2012: Top 10 Shots
June 10, 2012: John McEnroe, Ted Robinson, and Mary Carillo look back at the Top Ten best moments from the 2012 French Open.
‘