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MELBOURNE - The coronation is complete, with Rafael Nadal confirming his status as the undisputed new king of tennis with a gripping victory over Roger Federer in last night's blockbuster Australian Open final.
In another titanic battle between tennis' two greatest rivals, Nadal became the first Spaniard to
win the Open with a heartstopping 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2 triumph in four hours and 23 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
And in denying Federer a record-equalling 14th grand slam crown with his fifth consecutive victory over the Swiss, perhaps Nadal took his own step towards tennis immortality.
At just 22, the world No 1 now owns six majors.
Federer had just one in his trophy cabinet at the same age.
Maybe it is time to start pondering whether Nadal - and not Federer - might end his career as the best player ever.
Even if Federer recovers from this latest body blow to eventually match and then surpass Pete Sampras' benchmark 14 slams, Nadal must be feeling better placed to complete the coveted career sweep of the sport's four major championships.
His watershed victory at Melbourne Park, following his four French Open wins and grasscourt success over Federer at Wimbledon last year, leaves the US Open as the only major title missing from the indomitable Spaniard's CV.
The final frontier for Federer, though, has never looked further away than after his demoralising 6-1 6-3 6-0 loss to Nadal at Roland Garros last June - and now this.
While the red dirt of Paris remains Federer's kryptonite, Nadal no longer shows the slightest weakness on the faster surfaces.
He boasted a tour-leading 46-10 record on hard courts in 2008 and has now added the Open trophy to the Olympic gold medal he won in Beijing.
Federer had won 72 of his past 74 matches at the hardcourt slams, but Nadal shattered his aura of invincibility on Sunday night to join Andre Agassi as the only other man in the 41-year professional era to secure slams on three different surfaces.
Having bagged six slams in his first 20 major appearances and established a 13-6 edge over Federer in their career series, it seems only injury or an astonishing reversal of form can stop Nadal from continuing his own relentless pursuit of Sampras' record haul.
Nadal can now almost certainly lay claim to being the first player to win the Open after being on court on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the final weekend of the tournament.
His five-hour, 14-minute victory over fellow Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco - in what was the longest match in Open history - began on Friday night and ended at 1.07am Saturday morning (local time).
This one over Federer finished at 12.14am Monday.
Just as he had when the great Rod Laver presented him with the winning trophy in '06, Federer broke down in tears up receiving his runner-up plate, this time in front of Laver and the four men the Australian defeated in 1969 to achieve his second calendar-year grand slam sweep - Andres Gimeno, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe and his former coach Tony Roche.
"Maybe I'll try again later ... I don't know, God, it's killing me," Federer said before losing his composure.
After regrouping, the world No 2 returned to the microphone to congratulate Nadal.
"I don't want to have the last word. This guy deserves it. You played incredible. You deserved it, man," Federer said.
"I'd like to thank the legends for coming out. You know how much it means to me."
After embracing Federer, Nadal paid tribute to his vanquished opponent in his victory speech.
"Roger, sorry for today. I know how you feel right now, it's really tough," he said.
"But you remember you are a great champion. You are one of the best of history."
Although Federer gallantly pushed the final into a fifth set, he was ultimately left to rue managing to convert only four of 17 break-point chances in the first three sets.
He blew a 4-2 and 30-15 lead in the opening set before recovering from a break down in the second to level the match.
The 78-minute third set was full of tension.
Nadal required a leg massage after holding serve for 3-2 and then had to stave off a total of six break points in the ninth and 11th games before Federer saved a set point in the 12th game with an unreturnable serve.
But a mistake-riddled tiebreaker from Federer gifted Nadal a two-sets-to-one advantage.
Refusing to yield, Federer struck back with the decisive break in the sixth game of the fourth set before firing down a huge serve on set point to put the match back on level terms.
The writing was on the wall, though, for Federer when he dumped a forehand into the net to drop serve to fall behind 3-1 in the fifth set.
It was all over when, defending his third match point, Federer flayed a forehand long, prompting Nadal to fall on his back in elation - just as he had done after burying Federer at Wimbledon.
- AAP