Nadal wins Grand Slam title #6!

Rafa Nadal wins the 2009 Australian Open, beating Roger Federer in 5 sets 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2. Woo-hoo!! :)

photo courtesy of the Australian Open website.

Some interesting figures:

• Rafa now leads Roger in their head to head, 13-6
• Rafa also leads Roger in their Grand Slam final head to head, 5-2
• Rafa has won the five matches they played against each other
  
• This is the first time Nadal has reached the final of a Grand Slam event played on hard court
• Nadal's career five-set record now stands at 12-3. Clearly, he's not a guy you'd want to get into a fifth set against.

The level of play was not as high as in their Wimbledon 08 clash but it was just as tense for the most part. Federer was not at his best, which was good for Nadal because he seemed a step slower and marginally weary, most likely due to his 5 hour 14 minute semifinal match against Fernando Verdasco. A lot of people, including myself, thought that Nadal would not be in good enough physical shape after that. A colleague even commented last Friday, as the Nadal-Verdasco match got into the 5th set, that Federer would kill whichever of the two he ends up meeting. How wrong she was!

Nadal now has 6 Grand Slam titles. And he's only 22. When Federer was 22, he had 1 Grand slam title (Wimbledon 2003). And with Federer amassing a multitude of records already, it's interesting that with this win, Rafa actually achieved something Roger has not - win a Grand Slam event on three different surfaces (grass, hardcourt, and clay).

Of course, the question is how many years Rafa can play at this level. His style of play is so physically demanding that it won't be easy for him to have the longevity that other tennis legends have. But I guess it doesn't really matter. With 6 Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces and a #1 ranking, he is assured of a place as one of the best tennis players in history. He may not be the greatest ever. But he certainly is the best right now.

Congratulations, Rafa! :)