Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

[anton pulisov]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Would very much like to see 36 year old Venus and 35 year old Federer go all the way.

[Janik]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Federer's chances have improved from what they were at the start, as he is currently a set and a break to the good...

Edit - make that two sets to the good.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Feds has the break in the 5th, after it looked like Wawrinka was about to tear him to shreds.

[Janik]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Watching the highlights yesterday evening, there was a huge point at 1-2 30-40 in the final set. Roger missed his first serve, went for a kicker on the second, but Stan got over it and ripped a backhand cross court right into the corner. Roger somehow managed to half-volley this back into play, deep enough to not be immediately beaten by the next shot. He was still fire-fighting for the rest of the rally, though, but somehow managed and eventually won it. That, there, decided the match.

Rafa is a set up on Dimitrov at the moment. It's really happening, people.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Very high standard for the last hour or so. I almost feel sorry for good - looking, millionaire, glamour boy Dmitrov. If he dared win this he'd probably become the second most unpopular man in the world overnight.

[Janik]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Third set tie-breaks with the score at a set all feel are special, aren't they? One of those instances in sport where a match that is essentially a draw will suddenly, and without either competitor being particularly better than the other guy, tilt massively in one player's favour.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

And luckily, that player is Nadal. Go Nads! It really could be happening.

[Kevin S]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Williams, Williams, Federer, Nadal? Have I gone back ten years?

[Seven Saxon Kings]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Dimitrov won the fourth set breaker and its into a fifth.

I just feel like a Nadal-Federer final would be so brilliant and exciting that it can't possibly happen.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

What an absolutely awesome match that was! Unbelievable standard. And Roger v Rafa is on. Just wow.

[Arturo]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Just unbelievable.

When Murray won the US Open, I remember thinking that we were in a golden age of men's tennis and it couldn't last forever. I didn't really expect to be saying the same thing nearly five years later.

Damn that I am working on Sunday.

[multipleman78]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

So what does everyone think will happen tomorrow?

What makes this match up even more fascinating is that Nadal hasn't really faced this incarnation of Federer. Since the Swiss man started playing much more aggressively and attacking the net, they have only met once and Federer won. Federer has also defeated Murray the last 5 times dating back to 2013 playing this way. Does this mean he can get a win over his nemesis ten years since he last did it at this level?

My gut feeling is that it won't be enough. I can see Federer coming out and starting at breakneck speed and probably winning the first set but gradually Nadal will wear him and his backhand out.

I am more of a Federer guy so i do want him to win but no matter what happens it is going to be so much fun seeing these two do battle once again. The atmosphere when they walk out will be the tennis equivalent of gladiators coming out at the Colosseum.

[Satchmo Distel]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

It's all about the demons in Federer's mind. So often against Nadal in the past he seemed to defeat himself through letting self-doubt creep in at crucial times. Nadal just had a mental hold on him.

OTOH so much time has passed since their last GS final that maybe these are simply not the same players now, and Federer's decline in that time has been less severe than Nadal's, perhaps because Federer's game is simpler and less taxing on the body? Can Nadal still have the strength to play two five-setters back to back?

[Outside Agent]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

My five-month old son is teething at the moment. He's waking up crying most mornings in obvious discomfort. If/When he does so tomorrow morning, he's getting seriously drugged to help him sleep. He can kick off all he wants in the afternoon.

So, Federer v Nadal. First thing that jumps out to me is how this has been their lowest aggregate seedings at a Slam (9 & 17), making the likelihood of a Final meeting in this event lesser than ever before. Yet here we are. And a repeat of the forgotten epic of 2009, which very few people appear to recall.

Federer clearly has, or had, that mental block when it comes to playing Nadal. It was evident right up to their last Slam meeting in Melbourne in 2014, when Nadal swatted Federer away with relative ease. However. it's noticeable with Federer over the last two years that his attitude to playing has changed. Perhaps it's fatherhood, or that he's reached a point where he accepts that his career is in overtime and that anything is a bonus now, but he appears to have a happier disposition around the court, and, dare I say it, finally accepting of his weaknesses. So maybe he's in a place where reaching a Slam final is something to cherish, and where facing Nadal in that final just makes it extra special. Watching Federer in those Slam matches against Nadal since the tide turned at Wimbledon in 2008, he had the look of a man who was telling himself that he just had to win. I don't think he'll be putting himself through that mental torture tomorrow. So maybe that mental block is no more. Maybe.

As for Rafa, he'll be strong favourite, and rightly so. But I wonder about the affect of the marathon with Dimitrov will have on him. The 22 year old Rafa could recover from a five hour five-setter with Verdasco to go on and outlast a better-rested Federer in a five-setter. But can the 30 year old Rafa, with accumulated injuries, recover similarly from a five hour five-setter with Dimitrov? We'll see.

I'd love Federer to do it. But I think it will be Nadal in four.

[Sits]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Mens' going perfectly for the neutral at one set all, but the longer it goes on, the more I'd expect Nadal to prevail.

[Sits]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Right. Well after Federer takes the third 5-1, we conclude I know nothing about tennis. Great to see these two back in a final though.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

This is gripping stuff. If Nadal takes into the fifth set I can picture that getting to about 8-8 with both guys just exhaustedly swatting it back and forward like punch-drunk boxers.

[Sits]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Fourth, Rog! Well he's just won his service to love for 5-2. Isn't this fun? They're both making some errors but the fallibility is part of the entertainment.

[Sits]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

There it is, 2-2. Very hard to call this.

[Sits]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Massive game there, 4th in the final set. See-sawed and would have made it 2-2. But Nadal goes to 3-1.

[Sits]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

And the balance shifts again. After breaking back Federer delivers a service game to love, including a second serve ace to close. 4-3 Federer.

[Sits]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Wow. Another break. 5-3.

[Sits]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

Federer wins 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 - last point on a review. Great stuff. I hope Nadal gets another one though.

[Janik]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

There is a big, big difference between 18-14 and 17-15, particularly with Rafa back to very near his best and French Opens still to be played. And also between 17-12 and 18-12. That twenty minute purple patch from Federer at the end probably means he ends his career with more slams than Nadal, and probably more than Djokovic as well.

Federer had lost four of the last five Slam singles finals where it had gone to five sets. He beat Roddick 16-14 at Wimbledon in 2009 but had also lost at '08 Wimbledon vs Nadal, 09' Aussie vs Nadal, '09 US Open vs del Potro and '14 Wimbledon vs Djokovic. So it was simply a bit of a revision to the mean for him to come through today. I think it possibly helped to be a break down early in the final set. He was tense enough serving at 5-3, I'm dubious he would have seen it through had he been front-running. Given that Roger had had break points in all Rafa's service games in the final set, even if he hadn't closed it out at 5-3 he probably would have had chances at 5-4.

As an aside, when looking up his five-set record, I noticed that Federer 10 slam finals defeats include only one in straight sets, the infamous French Final where Rafa absolutely trounced him.

[multipleman78]

Aussie, Aussie Aussie.

I thought that was a wonderful tennis match. It wasn't quite the swashbuckling classic like Wimbledon 08 but it had a a great mix of momentum swings and tactical changes during it. The fifth set was one of the best final sets ever. It felt like both of them were now playing brilliant at the same time but Federer just wouldn't be denied. He has now won 2 in a row v Nadal for the first time since 2007.