Federer vs Nadal: 5 Best Grand Slam finals between the two legends

2. 2017 Australian Open

Nadal and Federer at the 2017 Australian Open

Roger Federer d. Rafael Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3

Match Stats:

Time Duration: 3 hrs 38 minutes

Points Won: 150-139 (Federer)

Aces: 20-4 (Federer)

Winners: 72-35 (Federer)

Unforced Errors: 26-57 (Nadal)

2017 was the year when the old gods rose again. Nadal was World #9 coming into the Australian Open and Federer was #17. Nadal hadn't won a Slam since the 2014 French Open and to top that Federer hadn't won a Major since 2012 Wimbledon.

The two legends started the tournament with quite low expectations. They both had a couple of tough matches on their way to the final - Nadal had to play five-set matches against the young Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov in the 3rd round and the semifinal respectively, while Federer had to dig deep in the 4th round against Kei Nishikori and against Stan Wawrinka in the semifinal.

Federer broke Nadal's serve in the 7th game of the final to win the first set 6-4. But Nadal came back in the second set to level the match. Federer again took the lead by winning the third comfortably, before Nadal leveled the match again by winning the fourth.

The Spaniard started on top in the fifth, breaking Federer's serve early. The Spaniard was 3-1 up and looked to be on the cusp of his 2nd Australian Open. But Federer spoiled his wish by winning the next 5 games in a row to lift his 5th Australian Open title and 18th Slam overall.