Federer beats Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3
The Swiss, 35, wins a record 18th major title
*Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 4-3 Nadal
Three becomes two. Two becomes one. And one becomes none.
Rafael Nadal ratchets up the pressure, Federer having few answers. He shanks a backhand on the final break point as Nadal drags it back to deuce...
*Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 4-3 Nadal
"Please," British umpire James Keothavong tells the excitable Melbourne crowd after Federer goes 0-15 ahead.
Make that 0-30! Nadal skews a forehand into the tramline, Roger clenches his fist.
Oh. My. Word. Rafa has cracked! Nadal double faults at the worst possible time. Three break points for Federer....
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Kenny Simpson: This is getting close to Wimbledon 2008 levels of awesome...possibly tops it!
Dale Harris: This is absolutely outstanding tennis. You'll never get bored of #FedererNadal these men are meant to be over 30?
Husnun Nazeeyl: RF - Risky tennis no matter what, RN - mental fortress even if the whole world is up against you!
Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 4-3 Nadal*
Pressure? Pah! Roger Federer eats pressure for breakfast, dinner and tea. The Swiss casually knocks out a love hold in less than two minutes.
Image source, Getty ImagesFederer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 3-3 Nadal
How are we doing out there? The heart-rate going up?
*Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 3-3 Nadal
Pat Cash
Former Wimbledon champion on BBC Radio 5 live
How can Nadal handle this pressure? Federer is so quick inside the court. That was an inch, maybe half an inch out.
Image source, EPA*Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 3-3 Nadal
What a way to wipe out a break point! Nadal steps on the gas, thumping a corker of a forehand past Federer.
But Federer is refusing to go away. He's like a playful dog on the park that won't leave you alone when you're trying to get home out of the rain.
Here's another break point - Federer's sixth of the fifth set - he's got it! Nadal whacks a forehand wide - is it in? Is it out? It's out! Back on serve.
Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 2-3 Nadal*
Federer keeps hanging in there by his fingernails. His will be gone, mine have gone, yours have gone. We're all down to the bone.
A baseline rally ends with a stunner of a backhand across court and beyond Nadal, then goes 0-30 when the Spaniard wilts after another baseline battle with a forehand into the net.
Rafa roars back to level with a forehand winner for 30-30, but then Rafa goes long - confirmed by technology - to give Fed another break point....
Image source, Getty ImagesFederer 6-3 3-6 6-1 3-6 2-3 Nadal*
Gigi Salmon
BBC Radio 5 live commentator
I don't know which way this one will go. I'm a heart and head situation with this one. I'm actually speechless. The way it's going, the wya they're both dipping at times... I think Nadal. No-one wants to say categorically what will happen!
Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 2-3 Nadal*
Every Federer winner is greeted with a relieved cheer from a high portion of the Melbourne crowd. A forehand winner puts him to 40-15, Nadal clubbing a forehand long from the baseline to cough up the game.
Federer is hanging on to Nadal's coattail with his reliable service games, as well as giving Nadal huge problems when has the ball in hand.
Hanging on a cliff edge this one.
Image source, Getty Images*Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 1-3 Nadal
What have we here? Another break point for Federer. Nadal goes to the body serve - his trusty spade - to dig him out of another hole. Federer can't respond, Nadal rattling off three successive points to bury the Swiss.
Image source, Getty ImagesFederer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 1-2 Nadal
Russell Fuller
BBC tennis correspondent on Radio 5 live
The crowd are becoming more and more partisan with every point that goes past. Nadal is phenomenally popular but no-one has even been more popular in men's tennis than Roger Federer.
Image source, Getty Images*Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 1-2 Nadal
Rafa cruises into a 30-0 lead, then brings a few concerned groans when he double faults. That's only his second of the match - pressure. And then Federer pounces.
An excellent gets him into the point and then we see that thing of beauty- the one-handed backhand. He whips his right arm away from his body with the grace and authority of the Royal Concertgebouw conductor, the ball fizzing across Nadal's eye-line and out of play. Then we're into deuce...
Image source, Getty Images*Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 1-2 Nadal
Federer simply cannot go a double break down. He doesn't. A love hold keeps the Swiss in touch and what is most remarkable is the ease with which he does it. Suppose he has 17-time Slam wins of experience to draw from.
*Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 0-2 Nadal
A poor backhand from Federer pulls Rafa back to 30-40, then a simply brilliant shot from Nadal down the line, fizzing over the net and touching down an inch inside the line, brings deuce.
Danger over? Not quite. Federer earns a flukey third break point, clipping the top of the net cord and seeing the ball hit blue acrylic.
But Rafa saves that and uses the momentum to hold.
Uncle Toni jumps to his feet, Roger's heart sinks.
Image source, EPAFederer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 0-1 Nadal*
Russell Fuller
BBC tennis correspondent on Radio 5 live
Federer has to have another burst, another one of those purple patches that we've seen in this competition. There's going to be a ludicrous amount of tension at play in this final set.
Image source, Getty ImagesFederer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 0-1 Nadal*
This is starting to look ominous for Federer. Nadal's power see him take the first point - but hang on!
Nadal swats a forehand into the tape, Nadal going 15-30 ahead with a forehand down the line. And now he is 15-40 ahead with another sublime cross-court winner from deep.
Two break points for Fed. Extraordinary!
Image source, Getty ImagesFederer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 0-1 Nadal*
Stan Wawrinka couldn't kill off Federer in the fifth set after a medical timeout, can Rafa?
Fed's missus Mirka looks tense as her beau goes 0-30 down, only to see him roar back to 15-30 when he leaps in to a crunching forehand. But that is good as it gets.
Two break points to Nadal...
A long rally ends in Federer thumping an inside out forehand down the line. One saved. Not the second. Federer gets lured into another long point, eventually buckling with a wide forehand.
Image source, Getty ImagesFederer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 Nadal
Pat Cash
Former Wimbledon champion on BBC Radio 5 live
They really have to 'fess up to what the injury is. You don't just stop a marathon if you're tired. Is it something that really requires medical attention, or is it tiredness? If it's tiredness then it's a loss of condition. I cannot stress how bad this has been supervised or looked at by the medical team here in the whole tour. It's wrong, wrong and wrong. It's cheating and it's being allowed. It's legal cheating but it's still not right.
Image source, Getty Images*Federer 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 0-0 Nadal
Here he is! Roger Federer saunters back out, wiping his mouth with a towel. Wonder what the problem was? Was there even a problem?
Roger to serve first. One set left, but how many games? Let's go...
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