It will be the 19th career meeting between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer when the top two players in the world square off in a dream final on Sunday night at the Australian Open.

Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 12-6, but eight of those wins have come on clay, Nadal’s favorite surface and Federer’s least preferable. The most recent meeting, of course, came in the memorable 2008 Wimbledon final, where Nadal outlasted then-No. 1 Federer 9-7 in the fifth set.

The hard courts of Melbourne will be the most neutral surface yet for what will be Federer and Nadal’s seventh meeting in a Grand Slam final. Federer beat Nadal in two Wimbledon finals prior to last season’s defeat, while Nadal has conquered Federer for three of his four French Open titles.

Now that Nadal has overcome Federer on the Swiss’ favorite surface (grass), if he can get the best of Federer on hard courts as well, he will be the clear-cut dominant player in men’s tennis. But Federer is starting to look like the Federer of old. An enormous struggle with Tomas Berdych in the fourth round seemed to wake Federer up from a relatively lackluster first week of the tournament. In the quarterfinals Federer destroyed Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 and in the semis he cruised past Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-5, 7-5.

His win over Roddick came on Thursday, so Federer has had one more extra day of rest than Nadal. During that extra day, he got to kick back and relax while his adversary contested the longest match in the history of the Australian Open: a grueling 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-7(1) win over fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. It was Nadal’s first real test of the fortnight. Nadal reached that spot in the tournament by taking out Christophe Rochus, Roko Karanusic, Tommy Haas, Fernando Gonzalez, and Gilles Simon all in straight sets.

But now Nadal—after rolling along through five matches—most certainly has to be fatigued after the five hour and fourteen minute slugfest against Verdasco.

Nadal himself admits that he is unsure how his body will hold up physically for Sunday night’s blockbuster title match. “Little bit unlucky,” Nadal said when asked how exciting it was to finally play Federer in hard-court major final. “Don’t know how I gonna be for the final. I gonna try my best for sure for recover my body and my physical performance. But, you know, after one match like this, the next days you feel much heavier.”

Verdasco agrees. “Is also a pity that…he played that long match for the final, when Roger played one day before and a much shorter match,” he said. “I want him to be 100% to play that final and to try to win. He’s a big friend. I wish him the best of luck in the final. I hope that he will win.”

But Nadal is not making any excuses about only getting one day of rest, whereas Federer gets two. “The US Open was for both players the semifinal the same day,” he noted. “Here is the only tournament is not like this. But, you know, you still have one day off. So that’s the sport.”

The Spaniard even pointed out that he would have had the advantage last year, but both he and Federer lost in the semifinals. “But (it) is like this. Last year I played on Thursday. I lost. I didn’t play the final. But, anyway, I play on Thursday, and Roger play on Friday.”

So Nadal says the playing field is fair, and if so, with a fair field and neutral surface, this should make for one of the most (if not THE most) intriguing and highly-anticipated match in tennis history.

Why? Consider: the 2009 Australian Open title is far from the only thing only the line. You know, there’s that thing called the all-time Grand Slam record for most men’s singles titles. Well, as every knows, Pete Sampras owns 14 majors and Federer stands just one behind. A win would not only give Federer a tie, but it would set him up well to take the record outright at Wimbledon this summer (assuming Nadal wins the French again).

Should Federer lose, there is a remote chance he might never pass Sampras. Nadal would solidify himself as the dominant man on all three surfaces, and with Andy Murray (among others) on a rapid rise, Federer’s chances at Grand Slams—while still great—are getting slimmer and slimmer as opposed to better and better.

For Nadal, at stake is his sixth Grand Slam. We can start putting him in the Greatest Of All Time discussion if he prevails on Sunday. In addition to owning six majors, he will have won three of the four slams. All that’s left would be the U.S. Open, meaning he would be just one away from the career Grand Slam, most recently accomplished by Andre Agassi at the 1999 French Open. Sampras never did it (failed to win the French Open) and Federer still hasn’t done it (also has never won the French). This is clearly up for debate, but I’d say the chances are Federer will retire having never captured the title at Roland Garros.

If Nadal can win on Sunday and somehow win the U.S. Open (which is a decent probability, considering Nadal will probably still be going strong when Federer is over the hill once and for all), he will retire—whenever he does—with the career Grand Slam. That gives him a leg up on Federer, and so does his Olympic gold in men’s singles, which he won this summer.

While all of that is speculation, this isn’t: it does not get any bigger than Sunday’s Federer-Nadal 2009 Australian Open final.

Serena Williams has an air of joie de vie about her. Some fans interpret that as brash cockiness, but those fans do not understand Serena Williams. In the finals of the Australian Open, Serena laid claim to the world’s number one ranking and displayed her superlative tennis skills to the packed house as well as to huge television audiences around the world. The humiliation of the Russian finalist and number three seed, Dinara Safina, was a credit to Serena’s immense talent and Safina’s inability to perform on center stage.

Safina, who survived two match points against France’s Alize Cornet earlier in the tournament and who had been dominant through most of her matches, could no nothing right against the stronger, quicker and more experienced 27 year old American. The hard-working Russian was pressured from the beginning and did not manage to hold serve until the fourth game of the second set. The crowd was uneasy with Serena dominance and tried to lift Dinara’s play with vocal support. Safina’s frustration showed in every aspect of her demeanor as unforced errors, double faults and failed strategy became more and more evident with every toss of the racquet.

The 6-0, 6-3, match was over in 58 minutes. The fans, who were hopeful of another Nadal-Verdasco type encounter, were left wondering how good Serena Williams really was. Professional women’s tennis is on the mend. Players are improving but few posses the natural talents that come so easily to Serena.

Venus Williams combined with Serena to win the doubles yesterday and today served as her sister’s warm-up partner. It is safe to say that the warm-up was probably more challenging than the finals. In a post match interview, Dinara described herself “as a ball girl on the court with Serena.” Despite her sub-par performance, Safina will move into the number two ranking behind Serena. Such is the state of Women’s Tennis today.

Serena’s 10th Grand Slam Championship and fourth Australian Open title put her in some very exclusive company. Her win moved her ahead of Monica Seles on the Grand Slam total title scoreboard. She now sits alone in 7th place.

Williams who only committed seven unforced errors won 95% of her first serves while Dinara could only win 52% of her first serves. Safina also double faulted five times compared to nine for Serena. From the outset, Serena appeared to take an aggressive posture against Safina who had never reached a Grand Slam finals before. The 6’0” has worked herself into the best shape of her career, but she was slower afoot than Serena and was forced into a defensive posture from the beginning of the match.

Safina managed to break Williams in the first game of the second set. The audience rallied behind the underdog, but Williams came out swinging and broke back immediately before holding in game three. Safina held to get to 1-3. It was clear that she did not have the firepower to move the relentless Serena around the court. Serena’s ability to stay focused spoke loudly of her big match experience.

Recently, there have been retirement rumors for Serena. Based upon the 2009 Australian Open, she would be retiring as the dominant force in Women’s Tennis. At this moment, Women’s Tennis needs Serena Williams more than Serena needs Women’s Tennis. Hail to the Queen!

In one the greatest matches ever played on any venue, Rafael Nadal took everything his Spanish compatriot could throw at him and held off the hard-charging Fernando Verdasco in a semi-final matchup for the ages. This match will long be remembered for the extremely high quality of play and for the stream of remarkable retrieves, ground strokes and unparalleled athleticism that fans rarely get to enjoy.

The longest match in Australian Open history had something for everyone. The shot-making was so phenomenal that even the players seemed in begrudging awe of each other. Even as compatriots, it became clear that there was no love lost between these two superstars.

As the number one seed, fans are used to such performances from the highly competitive Nadal. What the fans got from Fernando Verdasco could not have been predicted. With a sketchy record in previous big matches, Verdasco actually carried the play in this semifinal. He refused to surrender in big moments. Every time Nadal seemed to grab the momentum, Fernando made a miraculous play or stunned Nadal with a sharp, un-returnable service.

With wins over fourth seeded Murray and fifth seeded Tsonga, no player had a more challenging draw than the fourteenth seeded Verdasco. This Australian Open was his chance to shine. Instead of wilting, as in the past, he seized the moment and impressively dismantled the favorites one at a time. Spectators will be amazed if 2009 is not a breakout year for the handsome Spaniard. Many experts were impressed by Verdasco’s off-season training. His new dedication and training have definitely elevated the left-hander to new found heights.

In the end, it was Nadal’s defensive abilities that turned the match. Displaying Tiger Woodsian determination, the 22 year old refused to lose. Verdasco provided every opportunity for a meltdown, but there was no chink in the armor this day.

After losing the first set 6-7, Nadal broke late in the second set to win 6-4, then cruised through a third set tiebreaker to win 7-6. Critiques awaited a famed Verdasco fade. Instead, Fernando raised his play. There were no service breaks in the fourth set. In the tiebreaker, Verdasco got out of the gate fast and cruised to a 6-0 lead. After losing one point, he served a winner and took the set 7-6.

The fifth set was filled with high stakes drama. There were very few miscues although Nadal began to carry more of the play. Rafael employed higher spin to negate Verdasco’s 100 mph forehand. Nadal seemed to get to every ball. While not as artistic as a Federer win, it was a gutsy win.

At 5-6 and Verdasco needing to hold serve in the memorable fifth set, Nadal blistered two returns and Verdasco committed an unforced error to go down 0-40. Verdasco hunkered down to win two points with crushing volleys. Serving at 30-40 and to preserve the match, Verdasco double faulted. The match ended so abruptly that the stunned audience fell silent to contemplate what they had just witnessed.

While Nadal hit 52 outright winners, his opponent hit 95 outright winning shots. This is the highest number of outright winners ever surrendered by the world’s top ranked player. At the conclusion of the match, the two players embraced briefly in an Apollo Creed – Rocky Balboa moment. The two Spaniards had definitely seen enough of each other by the end of this spectacular match.

Nadal will now have to lick his wounds and prepare for another evening match against the lurking number two seed, Roger Federer. While that paring is highly anticipated, it could not produce better tennis than was played in this semi-final. Congratulations to both players. Thank you!

The 9th seeded team of Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama rode the improved net play of Sugiyama and the always-impressive Hantuchova groundstrokes to efficiently topple unseeded Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo in a semi final doubles match at Melbourne on Thursday. The impressive performance boosted the team into the finals where they will meet Venus and Serena Williams, who seeks to combine her 2009 doubles trophy with a 2009 singles championship. The doubles finals should be an exciting match pitting f Hantuchova and Sugiyama’s finesse against the Williams power game.

In the semis, Hantuchova and Sugiyama showed their usual camaraderie but took their teamwork to a new level. Sugiyama turned in a superlative volley and mid-volley game. Her low, close to the net strokes shortened the court and lured the opponents into uncomfortable mid-court positions. Meanwhile, Daniela patrolled the baseline like a hungry tigress. Her penetrating cross court forehands continuously drove Santangelo and Dechy deep behind the baseline.

Dechy and Santangelo tried a variety of strategies to offset the smooth play of their opposition. They staggered their alignments, juggled their positioning and mixed the pace of their strokes as well as any team could. Whatever they tried, Sugiyama and Hantuchova had the answers. Still riding the momentum from their thrilling win over the top seeded team of Huber and Raymond, Hantuchova and Sugiyama look poised to take on the power game of the Williams sisters.

Success at women’s doubles is nothing new to the American sister team. The Williams’s already possess three Grand Slam Doubles Titles. Even though seeded 10th, many experts and bookmakers liked the Williams entry from the beginning. Although Serena is still competing for the Singles Championship, she appears excited about her chances in the doubles. After an unexpected early departure from the singles by Venus, she has been able to concentrate on the doubles throne.

The sisters dominated Australia’s Casey Dellacqua and Italy’s Francesca Schiavone from the start in the 6-0, 6-2 semis. Most spectators left wondering who could challenge the two American sluggers.

The huge difference in serving velocity spelled doom for the underdogs right from the beginning. The Williams sisters were never threatened in the one hour contest. Serena, who had completed her singles romp, had a special day at Melbourne. If the sisters play with the same intensity in the finals, Hantuchova and Sugiyama may hard-pressed to survive and may well be left wondering what train just left the station..