Federer breaks the Nadal HEX!

What a great Australian Open final between Federer and Nadal!!

I was on pins and needles and of course rooting for Fed. But for a while there it looked like Fed was going to succumb to the Nadal hex once again. Somehow he gutted it out, and won a 5-set match for his 18th major title of his career. Nadal stays tied with Pete Sampras with 14 all time. This was big, because had Nadal won, he would've closed within two majors, and Fed is 5 years older than Nadal. Taking nothing away from Rafa, who's a great all time tennis player in his own right. But what.... 9 of the 14 are in the French Open? He's more of a clay specialist. I'm kinda hoping Federer has one or two more in him. The way he went through this tournament, there's no reason why he can't add one or two more majors. Honestly, I thought he'd fall to Wawrinka in the semis.

A really enjoyable final, with real tension and back and forth set to set. I knew Fed had to start strong and he did, but when he started to wilt in that second set I thought 'Here we go!'. I think in Federer's favor was that Nadal is also returning from a layoff and had that almost 5 hour semi final which must have taken something out of him. He maintained it well in the first 4, but in that final set he started to crack. Federer was seeing the serve better and though he was feeling it too, could time it better getting all those opportunities to break.

Thrilling match and I am glad Federer won.

The semi and finals were quality tennis.

Was rooting for Federer but disappointed for Nadal - wouldn't have minded him winning

Fed has been the best player in many slams over the past 3-4 years in getting to the finals / semis but hit a psychological block when he's had Djokovic at the other side of the net and blown it.

He deserved another slam.

I hope Nadal can add another one or two.

Can't see 18 ever being surpassed

Yeah, 18 is a huge number and would seem insurmountable, given the small crowd at the top. I could see the Djokovics, Murrays, Wawrinkas, and even Nadals divvying up the up coming majors. Still, Nadal is at 14 and he seems to own the French. He's also only 30. The one thing going against him I guess is his "shop-worn-ness", if you could put it that way. Either way, I'm ecstatic Roger won this one. IMO, he seemed to have more a mental block against Rafa than either Novak or Murray, with Rafa having a huge edge in head-to-heads.

I do not see either winning many more Grand Slams as I think it was just a blip for the current top players. So enjoy it as it will never happen again.