A look at Roger Federer's greatest Grand Slam triumphs on his 37th birthday

2. Australian Open 2017

The comeback win for Roger

2015 and 2016 weren’t the best years in Roger’s career. After remaining fit for the majority of his career, the injury curse struck and he was side-lined for a significant part of the 2016 season. The intermittent injuries did not allow Federer to scale the heights he was capable of.

With an extensive rehabilitation period behind him, Federer started off the 2017 season by playing the Hopman Cup. He looked to be getting back to his best, but an untimely loss to Alexander Zverev threw a spanner in the works.

Roger’s first big test at the Australian Open came in the Round of 16 when he was paired against Kei Nishikori. After an absorbing battle, Roger came through in 5 sets. His next five-set encounter was against countryman, Stan Wawrinka.

Federer gained a two-set advantage but let it slip very quickly. Fortunately for him, he regained his touch to win the final set 6-3. He scraped through to the final. The ‘dream final’ that everyone had hoped for, had finally come to fruition. The two veterans and arch rivals, Roger and Rafa were pitted against each other for the 35th time in their illustrious careers.

The match was one for the ages, with both players pulling off unbelievable shots. Just a couple of days after having survived marathon five-set semi-finals, the warriors were at it again. The match eventually swayed towards Federer and he was able to win his 5th Australian Open title and 18th Grand Slam overall.

Roger had overcome a lot to participate at the Rod Laver Arena, let alone win it. The ability to win with all the odds stacked against him, is what makes Roger’s 2017 Australian Open triumph his second greatest.