29/01/2012 Australian Open Tennis

In the early 80s, it was Bjorn Borg versus John McEnroe, with 18 Grand

Slam titles. On to the 90s, it was these two Americans with

contrasting styles, Sampras and Agassi, who collected two -- 22

majors. But with 26 Grand Slam titles to their names, is Nadal

versus Federer the Greatest rivalry of them all? Or is it about to be

overshadowed by a new chapter? Nadal versus Federer has been

littered with thrilling contests, but age is not one Federer's side,

and so does his semi-final defeat to Nadal this week mark the end of

an era, and herald the arrival of a new one? Step forward, Novak

Djokovic. World number one, winner of the past two Grand Slams,

beating world number 2 Rafael Nadal in both finals. As Djokovic goes

for his third straight major title, with only Nadal standing in his way,

this is the current great rivalry in tennis. Their matches may lack

the subtlety and variation of the Swiss master, but they more than

make up for it in power and intensity. Wonderful as it has been,

it seems as though Federer versus Nadal is yesterday's news. Novak

Djokovic versus Rafael Nadal, read Since the Open era began in 1968,

never have the same two players met in three consecutive Grand Slam

finals, until now. Djokovic and Nadal had to dig deep to get there.

John and Andrew are with me. What about this rivalry? Physically,

mentally, these guys are so tough. They are. We really need a Nadal

win, because Djokovic has got this winning record against him, but

potentially it could be unbelievable. They are such great

athletes and amazing players, let's hope that Nadal start winning some

of these matches so it can be a real rivalry. I don't think Nadal

has thought about too much other than Djokovic over the last few

months since September's US Open final. That was a bruising

encounter. I don't think anybody could have thought that Djokovic

could keep -- big deep again. As a physical encounter, it was like a

top middleweight boxing match from the old days. They were just

unbelievable and Djokovic tips on finding new reserves and resilience

-- keeps on finding. For Nadal, he is a pain. He certainly is! We will

wonder how much pain Djokovic is in, we will find out later. We are

celebrating 100 years of the Australian Open, and they are

celebrating it down there on Centre Court. There are a couple of very

familiar faces, isn't it lovely to see them on Centre Court? Reunited

in a major stadium against. The these two guys, they had the 19

Grand Slam titles between them. Rod Laver, up 11, Rosewall with eight.

Talk about rivalries, that was a special one. It was unbelievable,

and the most modest champion that ever lived, this man. The Rocket,

the most popular man in Australian sports history, I think, and he

deserves it. He is an unbelievable gentlemen, and what a player.

McEnroe's Hero. And so many people's heroes. Roger Federer

called him Mr Labour, Djokovic called in Mr Laver. Victoria

Azarenka said the biggest role of the day when she won her semi-final

was to see Rod Laver walking by. This is the impact he had. He laid

the foundation for the modern game. He was one of the most graceful

champions of all time. Have a look back at some clubs and you'll see

what we are on about. The -- at some clips. The lovely backhand was

second to none. He was one of the first one to came over the ball.

Look at this array of champions, Kenny looked bigger when he was on

the court down the road! Was that Mark Edmondson? And Bill Bowery,

yes. Wonderful to see them. As far as Federer and Nadal are concerned,

we talked about their rivalry and we talked about their rivalry and

we never thought we would see anything to challenge that.

certainly didn't. This is amazing. The epic matches that they had.

They have been a joy to watch. Are we going to see that many more of

them? Doubtful. There might be a couple left in them, but they have

been so great for the game. This was the first time they had been in

the same half of a Grand Slam since 2005 so they had to play a semis,

normally they play all these finals. It is now a very long time since

Federer defeated Nadal in a Grand Federer defeated Nadal in a Grand

Slam, and he has only ever beaten him at Wimbledon, of the four Grand

Slams. Given the difference in ages and the rest of it, we are not

taking away from Federer's greatness, but he is world number 3

now. I think there is a distinct gap between the top two and the

second to. -- second two. Nadal was almost writing of his chances. You

thought there would be a big shift in power because Murray was going

to come out firing, he very nearly did. Federer was in some ways, one

of the big favourite to win the tournament. He was. Rafa did the

psychological stuff saying, I don't expect too much, Roger is the

favourite in the semi-finals. He prove that wrong. He is saying the

same thing about Djokovic. Saying that he has been obsessed with

playing Djokovic, that he has a new plan of attack in more but he is

not ready yet. He is saying that nonsense what a don't believe for a

minute, but great rivalries. But he was lucky, to be on the court at

all, Nadal. He was in his hotel room and his need locked up. For 24

hours they worked on it and tried to enable him to beat mobile again.

He did not think he would take to the court but six matches later,

here we are, he has buried. manner in which he has won -- he

On a grass court, it is going to be 55-45 in favour of Nadal, probably.

He is third favourite for that. Federer played his heart out in the

semi-final and lost. Nadal was special in that match, I cannot see

how Djokovic can keep on running against the Nadal forehand

particularly, and the mobility, but he probably will and prove everyone

wrong again. These two have met many times, including the last year,

many times, including the last year, one of the most memorable was

Wimbledon last year. Djokovic achieved his life's ambition, to

come to Wimbledon and lift the trophy. How nice does this look,

green court, no hoarding, and a wonderful triumph for Djokovic.

This was extraordinary. He upped his game again. I don't know how he

keeps on doing it. He looks sort of unspectacular whilst he is being

brilliant, and delivering a dreaming about tennis, watching

Wimbledon, growing up that -- knowing that this was the

tournament, and we here it from so many people. He just dug deep,

because he didn't have a great head-to-head with Nadal, going into

2011. No, amazing he -- how he has turned that around. Only a few

turned that around. Only a few years ago, there were question

marks about Djokovic, Roger Federer said a couple of things about him

in the press and a lot of people thought that maybe he was looking

for excuses. He has proved that wrong. Last year was a joke, what

he did. One of the great years in tennis history again some of the

greatest players of all time, and he dominated tennis. He was 70-6

for the year, 70 victories and six losses. Four of those six losses

came after the US Open, when he has probably mentally checked out, with

the greatest of respect to the World Tour Finals. When the Grand

Slams are over, I think he is allowed to take the key out of the

ignition and wrest the engine. That is an amazing year, up there with

84 for John McEnroe. To win three of the four Grand Slams, having

been the third best player, how be elevated himself, I have no idea. I

guess this is the most important base in challenge -- in tennis.

Through the year, he won all six meetings with Rafa, what bearing

will that have? That is the whole key, 6 in a row that Nadal has lost

to him and psychologically, that's a huge. He has been obsessed with

pimple but he says he is not quite ready in his game with his plan --

he has been obsessed with him. He has been thinking about Djokovic

since he lost that match last year, thinking of ways to take him on

mentally and physically, I believe he will be totally ready. You have

Federer trying to find a solution to get through Nadal, which is fun

because he is 30 and he is trying to find something new. You have

Nadal, out of nowhere, finding a solution to Djokovic. In the middle,

Murray trying to find a solution to this whole thing about whether he

can win a Grand Slam or not. There are a number of captivating angles

in men's tennis at the moment. This rivalry, Djokovic-Nadal, it could

be around for a rival -- a while. They already sniping at each other,

Rafa going on about the breathing problems that Djokovic had against

Andy Murray. He said, at two sets down I went out for dinner and

Djokovic was struggling to breathe, I come back two hours late and he

is playing better than ever. He thought he was down and out. He --

the 5th set was the best that he played. A couple of times it looked

like he was down and out. I don't buy that stuff when he does it.

don't think he is faking it. I think he is hurting. You engage the

mind when you're having to dig deep, like climbing a mountain or

whatever... I haven't done that by the! If you -- haven't done that

either! If you are down, you have a very clear path to follow. You have

to concentrate on achieving it. The pain is definitely there for

Djokovic in these rallies. You cannot play 30-40 shot rallies

covering the sort of distance is that they are, at full sprint and

under control, without being exhausted. These are the fittest

men who have ever played the game. But nothing seems to be able to

knock them out, that is the remarkable thing. Federer looks a

third of the pace slower than the other guys around the court.

Amazing. Never thought I would see it. We are talking about Djokovic

and Murray, for those of you who didn't see it, let's enjoy some of

# I'm running out of battery. # The tears you cry are only meant

to flatter me. Oh, this is fantastic. Ivan Lendl, giving it

the come on! # Watching the wheels go round and

Have you seen anything like that before? Come on, this is an epic

match. One of the best matches I # Because it's got no meaning.

Yes, it was frustrating, demoralising for Murray to come so

close to a Grand Slam final yet again, but it was also incredibly

encouraging as well, because at last, he did look like a Grand Slam

chipping in waiting. It was the manner in which he went about his

business which was impressive. The bottom line is he had break points

to go up in the 5th and he lost it. The same question, when the

euphoria about the contest has died down, was always around, the same

question remains, can he do it? Because he hasn't yet. But I am not

taking anything away from the performance, it was stunning. About

it. He was calm, he gave himself the best opportunity to win. If he

continues to do that, he has got to win one of the things. He has had

so much success, no one has worked harder. He has Lendl on board, it

could be his year, we have said it before, but it could be. Ivan Lendl

has certainly made an impact in three weeks. He is attacking more,

which is what I know you have been saying for many years. There are

two things I have been saying, the attacking and the mental side. The

mental side is more key than the attacking. I think Lendl has to

take a lot of credit, more credit to marry for implementing that, and

keeping his mind together. He has only just started this relationship

soap by the French and Wimbledon... I thought he won't win one because

of his mind but it looks like he has corrected that. We wish Murray

well and we wish these two well as well. Rafa with his superstitions,

he carries his racket. These two are two Gladiators and isn't the

game privilege to have them at the top? It is. It is interesting,

Nadal is leading them out. He is coming out there first. It is

tempting to read too much into this but this is the nervous walk with

the men's champions on the left, the women's on the right. You can

actually smell the court as you get closer to it. It is concrete

walkways underneath the stadium, you go down some steps and on to

the court service. -- surface. The smell of a Grand Slam title with

the nerves that go with it! Thank you, Andrew. We will stand by for

the announcements on to court as Rafa goes on to court, he looks

like a boxer coming out for a world title bout, he is coming out to try

to win another Grand Slam title. Rafael Nadal!

Such a popular champion, he will have his supporters out there.

Novak Djokovic has won so many fans in the past year.

What a treat for the thousands lucky enough to have a ticket for

this final. I suppose with the top four, any final will be terrific.

Djokovic, we will be keeping an eye on his fitness. We know that Rafa

has had his injuries, his knee is taped up and he has all sorts of

problems. Rafa has also said that he has learnt from last year and he

will attack more today. That is what he has been saying. He had to

do something, he has lost six-times in a row. He is saying he is not

quite the finished product yet, but he knows what he has to do to beat

Novak Djokovic. If I think the crowd will be slightly favouring

Nadal, simply because of his record, going in at 6-0 against him, I

think they feel he is the underdog here and this is the man to beat. I

think the crowd will be on Nadal's side. The fitness side of Djokovic,

they have never played a five-set match against each other, by the

way. They have never gone to a 5th set. This may be the one.

Physically, you would have to favour Nadal, you would think, but

in 2009, Nadal beat Verdasco in the five-hour epic match and came back

and beat Roger Federer in another epic match, so it can be done.

Rougher has some writing on his hands, he is going to tell himself

what to do as he goes through the Fitness is really going to be a

factor. The game has changed so much in just the past three to four

years, first of all with Federer but then particularly with these

guys. Any kid learning the game now knows that you have to be almost

superhuman to get to the top of the game. You only have to have seen

the rallies that we saw in the semi-finals. Going back to marry

Ann Djokovic -- Murray and Djokovic, these rallies are not occasional,

UMPIRE: Do you have any questions? No, we have been there before! You

call, you call! Mason, 10 years old, he is doing the toss. Djokovic is

There we go. He is ready for battle, and boy, is he ready to win a Grand

Slam title again, this man? He is so ready. Can you imagine? For

someone like Rafa Nadal to have last six times in a row to someone,

it must kill him mentally. -- to have lost six-times. He is trying

to ease off the pressure by saying he is not quite ready but don't

believe that for one second. He is so ready, it is frightening. Novak

is in physically great shape, he knows what he will have to do today.

He will have to wear down no doubt. There is no easy way to beat Nadal.

They are going to play 15, 20 shot rallies over and over again, it is

going to be magnificent. Rafa says he wants to attack, but he has got

to be a little bit careful because he is going away from what is

natural to him. That is exactly right. You go out of your comfort

zone, and you have got to be careful. The unforced errors will

start to go up. He has got to gauge it right between going for winners,

and also how many errors. Nadal is very aggressive but very few

unforced errors. If that starts lifting up, he has got to get the

balance right, that is the whole thing about how he takes a hold of

this match. As far as Djokovic goes, the fitness side of it, but he has

absolutely no weaknesses any more. After last year, he just corrected

everything. One of the things that Djokovic knows with Nadal, one of

the big things is the forehand. We have seen the forehand off Nadal

against Federer, he gets him out wide, he gets it up high, it hurts

Federer's backhand. Djokovic is so quick, his defensive play is so

good that he can get out wide to those big forehands and return it

with interest. Nadal has struggled to hurt him, and Novak knows that.

He has got the game to beat Nadal, he has beaten him so many times now.

It is tough on the dull to find a way to get through his defences

because this man is so quick -- it is tough on Nadal. No one plays

better defensive tennis than Djokovic. We used to think that

Rafa Nadal was superhuman but Djokovic has taken it to a new

level. He is like rubber out there. He goes for a wide ball, what he's

doing to his body to get out there... Not only does he stretch

and slight, he get to it and does damage with that shot. He puts Rafa

right back on the defensive again. It is remarkable, what an athlete.

They are both incredible but Djokovic, for me, is the best

athlete on the tour. Murray has done everything he can, he is now

attacking, tried to break the stranglehold that these two have on

the game. Federer is looking a little bit slow, you wonder how

long these two are going to stay at the top and how many finals these

two are going to have, if this man can stay fit enough for-that is the

question, we have seen this over the years about his knee. He says

there are no worries. He keeps there are no worries. He keeps

himself in such good shape. This could turn out to be a great

rivalry but we need Rafa to win one or two, to get it going. It is only

a matter of time, this man is too much of a champion to keep losing

to Novak Djokovic. He will find a way, somehow. Well today be the

time? I am slightly favouring him to win this match, but I wouldn't

put too much money on it. I think we are in for the long-haul, with

this one. The fact that Rafa is injured, and Djokovic, they have

had those long matches, we go back to the beginning of the tournament.

I love Rafa's statement about Federer, saying that when he is 50,

he is going to still be super-fit, he said he is going to be an

absolute wreck. Because what he put his body through is far more,

Federer is effortless but Rafa has to work incredibly hard. Federer

gets a lot more cheap points, he wins the rallies quicker. Federer

has had almost no injuries in his whole career, because of the way he

moves and strikes the ball, it is remarkable. Even went Nadal wins in

straight sets, it is still a long match because she has to grind out

the points -- even when Nadal. When he is 50, or he will have had about

two knee replacements and two hip replacements and who knows what

else! This guy was always super-fit and the difference was, he turned

himself around mentally. He was sometimes fragile court, and with

the medical problems he had. We wondered if he would have the

mental strength to be able to be a champion. He almost changed it in a

few months. It is the most remarkable thing, how he changed at

around. A lot of players including Federer doubted that he could do

that. Mentally, he suddenly changed it around. That must give a lot of

credit to... Andy Murray must look at the way Djokovic has done this

and think, why shouldn't he do and think, why shouldn't he do

that? Because mentally, Djokovic that? Because mentally, Djokovic

has turned himself around totally, has turned himself around totally,

in such a short space of time. in such a short space of time.

is always important to practise, is always important to practise,

but look at that, it is much warmer but look at that, it is much warmer

than yesterday. It will be cooling down as the evening progresses in

Melbourne. Important to get a good practise before and I hear that

Novak Djokovic is practising with a young bride, Liam Broady, and we

know why. -- a young Brit. He is a left-hander. Absolutely. Liam won

the junior boys' doubles. They the junior boys' doubles. They

often hit with the young Brits at the Grand Slams. The juniors are

very fortunate, you have to remember that everyone else has

left the tournament so there are not many people around. Imagine

warming up with Novak Djokovic, warming up with Novak Djokovic,

what a thrill for Liam to do that, he would have learnt a lot just in

he would have learnt a lot just in 30 minutes. We all go back to when

we were juniors and had the chance to play the all-time greats. You

really do learn. These guys are in for end absolute treat. -- an

absolute treat. They may be there for some time. Not only is it a

long match, but they take their time, these two. Absolutely, Rafa

has not improved with the time he takes between points. Novak as the

match gets tighter, he bounces the ball more often on the serve. Even

if it is straight sets, it will still be long. The start maybe a

bit long because Rafa has to get his bottles ready and sort himself

out, but we are ready for the battle and we are looking forward

to this final. Djokovic against Nadal. John, you are going to the

commentary box, I will hand you over to Andrew Castle. Who are you

picking? ANDREW CASTLE: I think Nadal is probably desperate to win

this Norman Brookes Challenge Cup again. I would pick him to go

through, but we are not the once out there. I think he is going to

give it all here. It will be very interesting to see if his defensive

capabilities, and there are so many of them, can actually rebuff some

of the attacking possibilities from Djokovic, especially on the

backhand side where he hits flat. He is troubled and rushed Nadal so

many times in these last few matches. Fascinating, all will be

revealed. Best of five sets for the Australian Open, Djokovic serving

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Sue Barker, mentioning Liam Broady's victory in the boys'

doubles alongside Josh Ward Hibbard, they also made the quarter-finals -

- he also made the quarter-finals of the singles. More British

success at Grand Slam will, things are looking better. -- Grand Slam

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There is this flat ball from Djokovic that goes through the

court with that extra pace, it rushes past an opponent, to the

forehand side. No doubt can sometimes leave that side open. But

it has to be a special shot to get Nadal has added a few grams of

weight via LED paper to the top of his racket. -- LED paper. Even a

move like that caused a stir in the world of tennis. We will talk about

why he has done that at the end of Fabulous change up on the second

serve from Djokovic, and the world a bumble want and reigning champion

makes the perfect start. -- a world No. 1. He knows that Nadal is

looking to move to his right and hit that forehand. The so there is

more weight on the Djokovic racket, I mean that the Nadal racket.

little bit more heavy, a little bit more off the ball with the ground

strokes. It is a big change. People don't think about it, but it is a

big change for someone to do that and he has done it with the off

season. With a view to what? A heavier bore, a bit more pace of

the racket. -- ball. It is all too beat this man from the other side

of the net, he can beat everybody else but he hasn't found a way to

Nadal's serve was broken 12 times in four set by Djokovic in the US

Open final, their most recent Grand Slam contest. In the six matches

previous to that, he had only lost his serve five times, so Djokovic's

Agassi, Jimmy Connors, these other people talk about as the best

returners in their game but it is quite possible we are looking at

The man who has the arena named after him, the official name

A good snap on those first serves by Nadal, he got the ace which was

nice for him, but some extra pace, trying to get Djokovic into

defensive positions, get a few free points. Rod Laver has as stadium

named after him, Rafa Nadal has his own shoes. -- a stadium. Back in

the days of Rob Labour, there weren't big endorsements -- of Rod

Laver. You had to be careful in A even though Djokovic lost that

rally, and it is one of those places he gives Nadal so much

trouble. Nadal hit that fantastic cross-court and Djokovic gets on

top of it and hit it back no problem and normally that shot

causes his opponent's problems. Djokovic has the power and pace to

get out there and return it with interest. Such a sound technique on

I think that is also going to be a crucial shark, -- shot, the

forehand from Nadal, but I think he will have to go down the line

behind his man much more that he is used to. When he get any type of

opening it, he has to slam that forehand down the line. -- type of

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UMPIRE: Nadal is challenging the call. There was no other role from

the umpire, but with good reason, the ball was good.

UMPIRE: Nadal has two challenge is That was set up by that magnificent

second serve. The it was a big serve, right on the line. -- it was.

Gets Nadal of the court, the big one to punch. -- 1, two. And he is

able to get on top of the Nadal top spin like no one else has been able

There it is again, that will drop wide. The Great Escape from 0-30

Fascinating patterns between these players. Nadal is trying to find a

way, you know he has gone out there with two or three particular aims

in this match early on. You have mentioned one, John, may be upping

the pace a little bit on the first serve. What else? I think he will

try and step in a little closer than he has before, I think the

forehand down the line could be a crucial shot. It is about getting

the ratio right between winners and Erez. He has already said he needs

to attack more and that is all well and good, but if you go up slightly

outside of your comfort zone... It would be great to own a pair of

those shoes, I have to steal one somehow. You'll have to find out

which one Hyslop there is at Wimbledon. This is some of the

evidence of the athleticism -- The only Grand Slam he hasn't won

is the French Open. He has been very consistent there. The first

match he lost last year was the semi-final in June. The first match,

against Roger Federer. Absolutely stunning year. So they are not

playing for the No. 1 ranking here, but in a way, it is an unofficial

UMPIRE: Djokovic is challenging the call on the right baseline.

really cost Andy Murray the other night when he ran out of challenges

in the 5th and deciding set. Djokovic challenge as this one

correctly. -- challenges. It looked as though he was doubting himself

as he walked away. You have to be lucky to get those right, it is a

feeling as much as anything to do John McEnroe always had a feeling

That is the first point in six that Nadal has won. He snaps the

momentum that Djokovic was Djokovic looked as though he

stumbled a bit. We don't need that. It is exactly the sort of Ryley

Batt Nadal wants to play early in this match to test Djokovic's fit

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best -- the sort of Ryley Batt Very good service game from Nadal,

a lot of variety. There is the champion. Victoria Azarenka from

Belarus, beat Maria Sharapova in yesterday's final. An unbelievable

Some good serves there, he hit that one wide, short up the court and

the last one, he slowed the pace up and it went to the forehand side,

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The other thing of their bad Nadal, I thought in a few matches against

Djokovic last year -- the other thing that there about Nadal, there

wasn't enough pace in it, and there was one in this a rally when he

just floated it back mid-court and he got into trouble. He has to get

more bite on that sliced backhand. That is the different right there,

the way he took that second serve on. That is sending a message out.

-- the difference. Djokovic is not known to have a second serve that

you can really attack very much, it is a very good second serve, but

Nadal was way inside the baseline, A floating ball with no pace, deep,

if you have to put a lot of physical energy into it to develop

anything in the rally. I'm just looking for signs of fatigue in

He seems absolutely fine. He does. Unbelievable, isn't it cost --?

Most normal people would need a couple of months off after a five-

It takes a lot of energy to nullified the Nadal ball, top

spinning, kicking up off the surface. You need to be very strong

and stable, muscular ground strokes What a get the that was. -- but was.

It looked like Djokovic's point. Perhaps someone who was more

natural at volleying would have closed in after the first one. He

let it drop and he paid the price. He retreated on that one. If you

give Rafa Nadal a second bite, he Let's see if he steps in on this

He did try. He just missed time dead. This is where his belief will

be tested. -- he missed time did. His coaching team will have

identified this as something to do. His instincts might have been to

get the ball back into court and he may get dispirited, but he has got

to keep doing that. They have pinpointed it as something they

have to take advantage of. You will miss some of them are but you have

UMPIRE: Djokovic is challenging the call. It was pouring down with rain

this morning, I think at some stage they were thinking of closing the

road. They closed it an hour and three-quarters ago, and then

It is interesting there. UMPIRE: Djokovic is challenging the

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 57 seconds

call. Nadal stood behind the They are liking of the way their

man is attacking tonight. He steps I think Djokovic has whipped his

shirt off and had a better this match of the racket. He is

frustrated, he has lost a serve, he had a game point. Very interesting

tactics from Nadal, he is very much making the play. It is surprising

he has done that so early. Nadal had a little look over when he did

that. This is strange for him to be doing this so early. Watch his

racket... He gets that the thump and Nadal just took that in and

right away, that gives him a boost. He has the break anyway but

psychologically, it is like first blood. And how important this first

set is, because both that the US Open and Wimbledon last year, in

the final between these two men, Djokovic just got off to an

absolute flyer. Nadal sort of got back in but was unable to make up

the difference. 6-4, 6-1 at Wimbledon. Nadal was always playing

catch-up. So the first step is critical. Djokovic has to be tired.

He has to be tired at the end of that marathon every day and I

wonder if a couple of the mistakes are due to fatigue and stiffness.

If you are a little bit tired, the one person you don't want to see on

the other side of the net is Nadal. But Nadal, as we said, he came out

and did this in 2009 from many even longer match, so it can be done. --

UMPIRE: Nadal is challenging the call on the left. The ball was

called out. It is supposed to be an instant challenge. By bad thing you

should be allowed to walk up and made the decision -- I don't think.

There is too much for the delay. some ways, it takes the pressure

off the umpires, they have got this review system, they don't have to

the pin and start overruling calls. Other sports could take note,

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particularly football. Why not? A couple of good sliced backhands

in that rallied from Nadal, a bit more pace on it, keeping it deep --

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He did well there. Not an easy ball, a good change up and Nadal was so

quick on to the ball. It came to him a little bit quicker than he

thought but he reacted well, just got enough of the angle to beat

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This is a tremendous effort that they are putting in, these two. The

sweat is pouring off Nadal, before that point. He just wants this so

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badly. Djokovic ruined last year A surprising miss, there. There was

not much on the Nadal backhand slice. A lot of errors already from

Djokovic. This slice sat up, not much on it. That is the effort ball

that you have to put in, Djokovic has to put something on that and it

takes physical work and energy to make something happen, with a dead

ball like that. That is the one On spectacular, but brilliant

returner, Djokovic. Look at this, deep ball, nothing wrong with the

direction of the serve, right down the line. He knows how to deal with

Points won returning the second serve, a big factor in this match.

We don't have access to a computer with those stats on but I am sure

it will pop up at some point. Djokovic is giving Nadal a headache

when Nadal is missing his first That is a big mistake,

uncharacteristic, unbelievable, really. It is like he's just

fighting a bit of a mental battle at the moment, Djokovic. His camp

have been pointing to his head, saying, keep your mind focused. A

bit worrying that this is already affecting him in the middle of the

first set. He has another three He has been doing that since he

learned to play the game, as a 4- year-old. Serve, bang, forehand.

This game is turning out to be absolutely crucial. We are used to

seeing intense matches, but it is unusual to see the fist pumping

this early in a match. It Shoji, psychologically for both players,

how important this first set is -- it shows you. Rapper, for the

amount of match -- losses he has had in a row and Djokovic, for the

physicality of his last match. They want to get out in front,

Proving it is not all about pace on the serve. That was not a very fast

serve but swinging out wide, right The Australian Open, the first

Grand Slam of the year. It is the contest for the title, between the

two men who contested the last two Grand Slams, Wimbledon and the US

Open. Undoubtedly the top two players in the world. Rafa Nadal,

world number 2, has a break of serve. He just can't get out of

He served so well on the deuce line but he can't seem to throw out as

He is a specimen, isn't he? I wonder if he might sneak a serve

That's wide, and that is the game. Crucial 12 minutes of this match,

40 minutes already and it is only 4-2. His place in the game, both

these players' place in the game, already two of the greats. Nadal,

looking to win his 11th Grand Slam title, is 11th major, he would be

joining Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver. Although Labour went through most

of the 60s unable to play in the Grand Slams because he was a

professional. He would have won so many, but they were all on grass in

Something has come down. It is his vibration damper. It probably got

knocked out by the Djokovic forehand. It takes the vibrations

out of the frame, a rubber thing that you put between the strings.

He changes the feel of the racket and gives you a solid pop on the

Novak has got one in as well, it looks quite high up the racket.

Nadal has got to watch that, standing a bit too far back there.

Unless he hits that to a perfect length, that is what is going to

happen. Djokovic just steps in, goes back down the line, Nadal

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Moving closer up on this second serve. He missed it, but learn from

the mistake the previous point. -- Nadal, having a look over again?

Nadal, having a look over again? What does he want? Just a small

water, that is all he requires. Not a big night out for Nadal, maybe

later, after this final! Djokovic did not look like he fancied a game

full of 30 stroke rallies, did he? No. The head games that he has been

playing away -- around with, it looked like he released in that

game. It looked like he was back into business. He had the same look

as he had when he was 2-1 down against Murray in the semi-final.

Almost like there was a clarity that the initial bid was over, and

now they knuckle down. -- initial For a couple of games he was

looking very negative and looking up at his box, and in that game he

can't -- suddenly got to calm again. He knows he has got to get into his

mind that he is going to be in for a long night, there is no easy way

to beat Nadal and he has to bear down on it, and realise that every

point could be 20 shots, that is the way it is. The new balls will

fly through this Melbourne air a little bit quicker, and the ball

will slide through on this plaques he pave prestige court. Big first

serves often tend to help with new Marian Vajda, a former tour

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professional, he won a couple of That is the new balls. It sounds

like somebody caught it in the crowd. Well done! I think his wife

caught it and handed it over! blew -- but they blew if you miss!

A lot of pressure goes up! It just comes through the surface, Djokovic

The first forehand in this game, Nadal missed by yards. That one

missed by amazing amounts. It could be the new covering on the tennis

ball, it slips and side -- slides off the strings. It doesn't grip

the new ball like the strings group Hang on.

UMPIRE: Nadal is challenging the call on the right service line, the

ball was called out. Oh, witches a shame. It is 30-30 and you are in

the middle of crafting a game, and Nadal got the serve and the reply

he wanted, which is why he was so disappointed. He was about to club

That was a bad miss, a very bad miss. Two second serves in this

game. Right into his stride zone, I

thought his serve was very short, down the middle, nothing on it.

Even his direction where he was hitting that is strange. That's a

mental error. He does like going Very short in that rally, Nadal.

tried to get length on the forehand but he just couldn't do it. It was

almost like he had lost a bit of confidence after those two Mrs.

could not get the ball deep. Inside the service line and that barely

hit the top of the net. Neither player playing well in this game,

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This seven-minute game comes on top of a 12 minute game on Nadal's last

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service, as he tries to maintain Should be looking at Djokovic, he

is the one going through absolute agonies. He is getting

opportunities, earning His eyes are staring straight at

Marian Vajda and his team, including his girlfriend, who goes

through absolute nightmares It is quite a routine forehand for

Nadal, really. He lost control of the length on that side a few times

That is a poor game. It really was won with Djokovic not really having

won with Djokovic not really having to do anything spectacular, unlike

the game when Nadal broke, in which they had some epic rallies and it

looked like Nadal was getting control. In that game, the forehand

went completely off the boil. No control on it, unforced errors,

it's sort of went a little flat, very strange.

He is not playing with the same certainty of purpose as he does

against others. Hardly surprising. Djokovic beat him six times in a

row last year, all in big matches, two were on clay. Two in Slam

Not got that length right, Nadal. He got away with that but the

forehand, very short. Djokovic, inside the service box and missed

the approach. It looks like he hasn't got the confidence to hit

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There we go! That is the forehand He goes through, and not just up

the back of it, there is a real sense of driving through the ball.

He perhaps needs to flatten it out. I mean, that is a body shop, isn't

That is really unlucky. That was a triple break point there, he just

nicked the net and it turned out to be just about the worst net cord he

could have had. This was a winner. Djokovic was nowhere near it, and

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it bounces right up to him. That That is a tough exchange to win.

Djokovic may have got lucky on the previous point but that was a

little war. Fantastic match, isn't it? They have been out there one

hour, 90 degrees, and no air. In Melbourne. 15,000 people in the

stadium, enthralled. Still no idea which way this set is going.

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Djokovic just fought back from a Lost control of the length again,

Djokovic, three games and a roll. He takes a 5-4 lead. He got away

with that. That was huge, that could have been the set right there.

It would have been 0-40. Now he would be serving for the set, and

he is serving to stay in the set. passing shot Djokovic had no idea

about. A 24-year-old versus a 25- year-old, they are in the prime of

their lives, these two. It looks as if the people in the Djokovic camp

have done a good job. His contest against Andy Murray finished just

40 hours ago. Here he is, looking very mentally engaged now. Earlier

he looked a little flustered, but now he has that clarity. What does

that act of's main, John? I cannot think. He was in the last

Batman film. He was, he was the district

attorney. Yes, he was two face. I only saw

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We have a visitor. A whole family. The risk is still open so they

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Again of strength from Nadal. Back And finally, he takes the game. It

is 5-5. That may have been his best forehand of the match, this is

obviously a huge point and that was deep and tough. Look at the

position on the court, once he had made the commitment to get round

that he had to do something special from that part of the court, and he

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A tough ball to handle, slightly miss out from Nadal, landing close

to the baseline. Djokovic is just complaining, unable to get the

player on the ball he was looking A late call. The correct one, as

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That really is an unforced error. A fabulous point there, from Nadal.

Most of the time he was defending round rally. He has one chance to

take over with this shot, and that is what he did. He accelerated the

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racket head, got Djokovic of the This is a forehand he has been

looking to get into play all set. But death and its tactic to attack

the Djokovic forehand when he can. -- a definite tactic. Even when it

means risking the more than he A couple of accurate forehands

under huge amount of will power bringing him the break serve.

of his best points from Nadal, that brilliant backhand cross-court, and

that magnificent forehand when he was pushed off the line by a

Djokovic. Peter two chances, Bowles or -- he took two chances, both of

them paid off. This set is obviously now very interesting.

From Djokovic's side, if he was to lose the set, he has not only lost

but he has wasted one hour and 15 minutes, which is not what you want

when you had a five-hour match a couple of days ago, or less than

that. If he can hold this game here, he has put himself into a fabulous

position. It said Grand Slam I'd put on his bike, Nadal, and there

has been enough to do it. -- Grand Slam and it proved. He has been in

15 Grand Slam finals and won ten of He is a long way from winning this

one. He could take a large step towards the total if he could hold

serve here. It has been a grinding An under-utilised serve, into the

Another body surf from Nadal, handled well by Djokovic. Nadal

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going into the well a little too A fabulous point. Incredible

The Duke of Kent, the president of the club with Rod Laver. They will

appreciate this point. He was up two set points, Nadal would not be

That serve sat a little bit, not much on it. Not easy to take a

left-handed serve, especially at set point down. He made it look

The third set of Djokovic's match against Andy Murray went to a tie-

break and it was a team-mate -- 88 minutes long. This is closing in on

that. If we go to the tie-break, Djokovic has come back from 15-40

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First set to Nadal. And the first step towards regaining the

Australian Open has been taken. 80 Holding serve has never been more

difficult than against these two fellows.

The first serve percentage... Djokovic's is probably a little

lower down. You can see unforced errors from

Nadal, 17. More than it Djokovic. That is a surprise. He said he had

to be more aggressive. He has the balance right. He went for the ball,

he's had the confidence to do it. He kept going for it, and in the

end that extra pace that he went for their created the winners, and

he took his chances. A very good set from Nadal, and very

aggressively played. Djokovic, talk about digging deep. After you have

just lost a set, won a orange 20 minutes, after the match he had

against Andy Murray, this is where he must really dig deep and Noel

how much she wants to win this final. -- and know how much.

talk about statistics and records from the open age, from when the

game went professional, but no one has lost three success for of Grand

Slam finals, and that is what Nadal was facing today. A bit more than

that, this was personal, and he knows he has miles to run to get

through Djokovic. Often you will get the flip-flop from Djokovic,

but he has never, ever out of a tennis match. The resilience we

have seen from the Serbian has been one of the most or remarkable

things over the last 12 months. He will have to be resilient here, he

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A well-worked point there, from Djokovic. Certainly does not seem

to be in your reaction from losing that first set. Only a positive

reaction from a champion like him, We don't see that very often,

serve-and-volley. And both players If you let the ball bounced on

those courts where the Australian Open previously was held, that was

a big mistake. You needed a pitching wedge just to get out of

there. Lovely wooden stands they had up there, a wonderful Centre

Court, and there was a slight domed feeling to it, the water would

drain off. If you were receiving serve, you could not see the

baseline down the other end. Did you notice that? I certainly did.

The Australian Open then was the fourth major championship in most

players' mines. It is now very much on a par with the others, it has

really joined the club. Now it -- now the world of tennis certainly

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It looks like he has nicked those tissues from the courtesy car on

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Wide on that forehand, he opened that side of the Quartet Op -- of

the caught up with the forehand, then missed the target. And it was

He thought about coming in for a volley, because of the floated

return. Then down the line and a miss. Not a very concerned --

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convincing start to the second set, Oh, yeah, good rally. What a

forehand from Nadal. There were so many good shots from both players

in that rally, it was an exceptional rally of quality. That

explosion off the back hand, it was not an easy ball. There was a lot

of height to, this was not an easy ball to get down the line from that

position on the court. He threw everything into that shot.

Serbian will have thought perhaps he should have come in earlier in

the rally. Some back hands that he might have shoved through the court

and taken the position, but elected Both players have been wary about

coming into the net. You can understand it with the way they

This ball seemed to stay a little bit too low, he ended up reaching,

coming across the ball. Haven't seen him hit a slice that hard

before. I think he realises you can't float the ball with that, you

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That ball was good, no challenge. An excellent holed from Nadal, he

An excellent holed from Nadal, he played a bit of a wobbly game. A

double fault and a couple of paw forehands and then he played two --

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four of his best points in the If you had to pick a best shot of

Djokovic's, one that he likes to bring to the party, that would

probably be it, the backhand down the line. He has been reluctant to

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The number-one ranking in the world of tennis is not up for grabs in

this match, officially. But if these two guys are playing each

other in the final of the slam, they are playing for the unofficial

rankings. If you asked any player in the locker room who the best

player is, they will say it is the winner of this match, because this

is the latest edition of this rivalry which is building and

building. The official world ranking was at stake in the women's

final, and we congratulate Victoria Azarenka from Belarus, who defeated

Maria Sharapova. Sharapova has been there before, three times she has

won at the very highest level. is watching this match, she is in

the crowd. I have seen Victoria, it is not as big a night as I thought

she might have. Can you imagine when she woke up, she is not only

the Australian Open champion but the number-one player on the planet,

imagine what that feels like. Fantastic, just 22. We will look at

the serve direction. He was mainly going down the middle. But one

swinging out, that is the obvious place a left-hander would serve.

Quite a lot of body, though? Quite a lot of body serves. Just tucking

them up, doesn't allow Djokovic to spread his wings and get a good hit

on the ball. Who is that? Is that Rafa's girlfriend? No. Unless she

has had her hair straightened, that's possible. But don't think

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she is sitting in the right place That was an aggressive start,

really hogging the baseline, refusing to be pushed back, doing

all the attacking play. When he gets the opening, just slams it

down the line. Look how far inside the court the

ball lands. One inside the sideline and the baseline, lots of margin

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That is a classic. Pushed out wide, had to go for something big. Would

have struggled to have got back on the court. Look how wide he was on

this shot. Way outside, that's unbelievable pace. Just rifled it

down the line. There was a point earlier in the rally, I thought

Djokovic could have come in on the I don't think Djokovic needs too

much advice on how to beat Nadal, he did it six-times last year, all

Break points in Nadal's first service game. And now, or at least

UMPIRE: Out. Nadal is challenging the call on the right hand service

Oh, the ball was good! A wonderful Oh, the ball was good! A wonderful

And there's the break of serve, And there's the break of serve,

Djokovic appeared to have gone the wrong way with the approach drive,

if you like. Nadal does what he does, which is make an opponent

plays a tough volley. And that was just too good. This is what you

could do if you volley well. seemed to shoot a bit at the end

and no doubt could not get to it. He has deserve this break, he

should have broken in the first game and he has come out very well

in the second set, considering he lost the type first set. -- the

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It is an interesting turnaround. More than a passing resemblance to

what happened after that massive third set in the semi-final win

that Djokovic had over Murray. He can't write down, took it back to

basics. If -- he can't do it right down. If there was one point when

you said, could marry have done something different, it might have

been at the start of the 4th set when he was perhaps just a little

bit cautious, probably just exhausted. Djokovic came right on

through. It feels a little bit like that here. It looks like he has

found the right range. It is not that Djokovic played a bad first

set but it looked like he didn't quite get that -- the balance right,

was over extending on ground strokes, made some unforced errors,

mentally maybe fatigue. Now he seems to have got calmer, he is

attacking at the right times, he has cut down on the unforced errors.

He's down a set but he looks very He's down a set but he looks very

dominant, and seems to have got his dominant, and seems to have got his

game face on more. Approaching two hours of play. And even amount of

hours of play. And even amount of points won. It is when you win them

points won. It is when you win them that counts, there are such things

as big points in matches. All that really tells us is that it is a

really tells us is that it is a close match. And that's absolutely

right. A hot evening in Melbourne, Victoria. 90 degrees at the start

of the match. Not too much air gets into this Rod Laver Arena. They had

the roof closed about 3.5 hours ago, light spots of rain. Nothing around

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now, that Ruth is open. -- the roof Djokovic is standing much closer to

the baseline and manoeuvring Nadal around. He is taking the ball early,

getting Nadal out wide enough. A bit of extra pace on those ground

strokes. Quite a relaxing game before Djokovic, he has the 4-1

lead. He can loosen the limbs a bit, go for the shots, if he gets the

break he will almost certainly get Even if he doesn't win this, he is

still 4-2 up. It is a lovely position in the match to be in. The

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It is a pity, it was there, he should have made that volley.

Anticipated the right way. A good approach, covered down the line,

had an open court, should have made that. So far out of the court, he

could not get back. He used to have more awkward for to help him with

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the volley technique. -- used to You can see the previous winners

there, Federer in 2010 over Andy Murray. Djokovic last year over

Andy Murray. UMPIRE: Djokovic is challenging the

call on the right service line, the ball is called like -- called out.

Djokovic has challenged as well as he has played in the last 12 months.

Amazing. A matter of millimetres here and there, he has been right

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Just wide, he didn't have quite enough in swing on it. It was a

shot to nothing again. Rather like the Nadal backhand down the line a

couple of games ago. It was a Professional, tough part of a set,

this, isn't it? A big first point, hard on the body. He is determined

to make the first serve, didn't want to see Nadal skipping around

It is the heart of this set, this game. Two hours, they have been out

there. Nadal is trying to get back into this set, he has looked second

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A very strong ever to from Djokovic there, having lost the first point,

a real focus and intensity. We are used to seeing it from them, he is

doing all the things a professional does, a tough one.

Just thinking back, we talk about the way he has changed mentally in

the last few years, to call from someone people thought he did not

have it in hand to win these things, just a year-and-a-half ago at the

French Open, he changed his serve. He was bowling it, and he was

serving 15 double faults in the game. He was only 7,100 mph, he was

spinning it in. Looking at and then, you thought, will he ever repair

this serve and confidence? You think of all the battles he has

come through to be the champion he is, it is amazing in such a short

space of time. And his motion looks so simple and relaxed. What he did

not have before was the racket head going down his back. It was a

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Just like their game at 4-1, this game, at 5-2, is something of a

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You will not see him stopping, he will go right through the ball, the

racket head up, it does not crop. Watch how fast this ball arrives

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This was such a tough ball, loads UMPIRE: the ball was called in.

The ball was called in on his first serve.

It added was in! Djokovic still arguing. He was saying, even if the

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This is what Mark Kermode last year, one of Nadal's strengths, something

he can rely on, is to get people out wide with that left-handed

serve, and get his forehand into play. That one came back with

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Just no time to react, that return Got the feeling that Djokovic did

not want to spend any more energy on that. He is ready to get on and

serve. It was a good job for Djokovic, he made Nadal work very

hard. Nadal with no great momentum going into this game. Now another

of these moments of truth which present themselves in five-set

matches. Djokovic serving for the second set. They have been out

there for over two hours ten That is fantastic! Forward, he says,

for word. He is the first person, and I think Andy Murray can do this,

as well, actually, but really Djokovic is the first person that

can take all the top spin Nadal throws at him. He just hit sit flat

like there is nothing on it at all. He hits it before it gets too high

on him, he does not mind that That is very unexpected, there. He

got so far behind the baseline, Nadal. He has this whipped forehand,

it goes up behind his head, but normally he gets a bit more through

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How he dealt with that high backhand Nadal it, he looked like

he was off balance, Djokovic, and he somehow managed to direct it

back down the line with pace. Unbelievable shot. He did not

follow at in, that would have been an easier volley than the one

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coming up here. But still, a That shot looked so much better

coming forward. It is back to two Djokovic will be so gutted! Great

anticipation from Nadal after what was a very average drop shot.

was an awful drop shot, and he got away with it. He just guessed right,

and you would have favoured Djokovic to win the point from that

position nine times out of 10. It is a double. It will be a

challenge. It is just wishful thinking, I don't really think he

thinks his second serve was in. A long way out. It is a break.

Djokovic is blowing this. Perhaps temporarily, but that could be

absolutely crucial, couldn't it? He played a good game on the previous

game, and that was a decent game, too. He missed a backhand, Nadal

played a great next point, and then there four point where Djokovic

could have done anything other than what he actually did and he would

have upset the point again. obviously did not see that coming

at 40-15. It looked like Djokovic was taking the ball earlier,

dominating baseline exchanges, it looked like he was in total command,

and then deducts on this man, you could not see how he was going to

break their, and he suddenly came back and at him again. That deuce

point, Djokovic had that point. Either way, Nadal is a way back in.

There is lots of ice India, by the way. -- Giglio in there. -- ice in

there. Very humid, it is the first Grand Slam of the Year, the

Australian Open. Nadal won the first set, 7-5, and he was down a

5-2 in this set. He is now still don't 5-4, so he still has to serve

to say in this sector. -- to stay in this set. It is the same final

we had at Wimbledon and the US Open. Nadal beat Roger Federer, and

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Djokovic beat Andy Murray in his Save serve, middle of the box.

Djokovic picking that one, giving Nadal not interested in challenging

I think he has got the best return I have ever seen, better than Andre

Agassi, it is possible. He has certainly hotting up Nadal on some

of these second serves. As he did with Andy Murray, that was one

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And again. Two first serves brings The ball was good. The umpire is

overruled. UMPIRE: You have one challenge. Nadal challenges, the

Called out by the person at the baseline, the line judge. Overruled

correctly by the umpire. No challenges remaining. There could

be some distance to run in this set. He is a bit cross because he hit a

return and it hit the back edge of Once again, that point set up by

that return of serve off the second He just thumps that Paul, putting

Nadal on the back foot from the start of the rally and after that

Nadal's gone the wrong way with the approach forehand! So many times

she has gone to the forehand of Djokovic. To take nothing away from

the Serbian's past, it was made possible by Nadal's wrong choice of

approach, wrong side. Some One set all it is. He will not

relinquish his Australian Open title easily. Did we think he

might? Some of us did because of his physical condition, or the

possibility of deterioration after his match against Andy Murray that

lasted five hours, but not a bit of it. Two very similar games in a

role, both ended on double faults. Two breaks to finish that set, this

is good fun from where we are sitting, are you enjoying it?

This is an absolute thriller. You just get the feeling the momentum

was changing their, Djokovic getting great points on all of

Nadal's serves. It is Rafael Nadal asking questions at this change of

ends. Does he have to go back to that attacking tennis? I think that

is the only way he will win this. I agreed. If you look at the

statistics they put up there, I believe he hit 15 in the first set,

and Djokovic has now gone ahead of him in the winning category. You

can see Djokovic is moving up closer to the baseline, taking more

chances on, and he looks like he is the one that has the most time and

Nadal is backing up. I think he has to take more chances, hug the

baseline a little closer and be more aggressive, as aggressive as

he was in the first set. Andy, how will he hang on to the

first serve? You talk about Djokovic's retro, so superior to

anyone on tour at the moment. What can he do with his serve to keep

them back, other than get first serves in?

That is the only way. You can try and vary the pace, speed and spin

of your service, but at the moment whenever anyone on tour tries to do

any of that, at Djokovic seems to be a split second ahead of them.

Such is the ease and simplicity of his take and he is able to take the

ball early and put it back. I think it will come down to a fight, Nadal

has to fight. If he is thinking clearly and tactically, first

served his end. Rafael Nadal is taking these type -

- taking his time to meet these challenges, and that is beginning

to annoy Djokovic, and that could become an issue. It is a rule they

could change very easily, there could be a two or three second

limit and that would eliminate this nonsense about walking up to the

line. It puts the opponent off and should not be allowed to happen.

Djokovic certainly made his views known to the umpire while Nadal did

that for the third time in that set. Meanwhile, it looks like it is

going Djokovic's way, but this is an absolute thriller and I are

We have been joined on the court by one or two insects, some of them

have been cleaned off on this hot night. A sweeping machine comes in

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Just staying very close to the baseline there, hitting the ball

You can see Nadal way behind the baseline, being pushed out of

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Nadal would have been quite pleased with that first serve until it came

back at him. And the weight it bid from Djokovic got him right off

balance. -- the way it did. There is a cumulative pressure that

builds when your best serves are coming back with interest. You

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That is a superb point. Just the setting up the point so beautifully

there. Down the line, down the line. Just gets him all over the place

and then he hits this lovely short angled off the court. There is no

point over hitting back one, you wanted to land as wide as possible.

Or you have got to do his practice There is that we turn again, it is

devastating. That is two first serves that have come back at him

and literally given him no chance. One moment, you hit a good serve,

less than a second later you have The big rivalry week with Nadal and

Federer, Federer is a great returner of serve, but Nadal will

not be getting those kind of shot to coming at both sides, like a

Djokovic can do. Which is why Nadal is serving writing to his body.

That was another example of a brilliant serve into the body and

the return of serve was six inches When he gets a strike like that of

the return, it enables him to get ahead in the rally -- off. He can

dominate his opponent and make the He missed one. Nadal is doing the

right thing. He is getting a high percentage of first serves in.

Maybe even taking a little bit of That is an unforced error. It is

just a forehand in a rally. Lost the length of it. It is a more

important game for Nadal than it is for Djokovic. His first service

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game of the third set, just lost Carlos Costa there, a top-ten

player. Now works with one of the And that their man finally holds a

serve and very important that he did so. Something to work with

did so. Something to work with after a quarter of an hour of this

third set. Each of these sets have Nadal trying to break Djokovic's 20

match winning streak at these Grand Slam events. Trying to force

himself forward. This is what they You saw that a gesture to Toni

Nadal, he knows what he has got to This is absolutely unbelievable,

isn't it? You could see Nadal trying to do exactly that, floating

on the baseline, but he got pulled out wide, he had no choice. With

the top spin that Nadal put on it, it is risky to go deep, because a

little bit less and it flies long. Or maybe he needs to flatten out

that forehand a little bit. Get the ball going through the court to

It is pretty tough to change your technique, though, isn't it? It

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wouldn't take a wholesale change to When Djokovic is in this type of

move, that backhand that we saw from Nadal, it is just not accurate

enough. It is sort of in the middle of the court, for feet in front of

the baseline and Djokovic is too good -- four feet. The length has

It had seemed so unlikely when Nadal came on to the scene about

some body would be able, when he was at his best, would be able to

take him out of his game plan, making do something different. --

somebody. It is wonderful to watch Nadal trying to be flexible, to

change his game, to think his way He is struggling to execute the

game plan he knows his right. -- he's right. His natural game plan

would have been to slice one or loop a backhand, but he is trying

to get in and take the ball early, because he knows it is the right

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UMPIRE: New balls, please. It is really just a continuation, isn't

it? This year is what Djokovic did it? This year is what Djokovic did

it -- did last year, he is on a 20 match a winning streak in tennis

majors. The Addie man to beat him at that level last year was at the

semi-final of the French, Roger Federer -- can be a lonely. Since

then, he has given Nadal a bit the lesson at Wimbledon and the US Open,

so it was Nadal's aim to try and change and think, but the lead

weight on his racket that putt. But it won't go away. Sampras was 25 in

a row in the majors. They are rarely said then you can wind to

win a major championship. -- there Rod Laver has the record, with 29

Rod Laver has the record, with 29 So, this can't step -- contest

which is only in his third set up... -- only in its third set.

UMPIRE: More bananas, please. will hear that a lot to him these

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You can understand the frustration from Djokovic. He knows that it was

an overall and it was a good one but he has hit another world class

returned -- overrule. They have called it long. Nobody is trying to

make mistakes. He would have been in such a good position. Look at

this return of serve. It is a joke, it is inside the baseline. It is

getting late for everybody, isn't Yes. You can feel Djokovic grabbing

a hold of this match. He is just overpowering him in this rally.

Every shot, Nadal was on the back foot. There wasn't one when he

could get on top of the rally. He was pushed back, side to side,

after the opening return of serve. It is amazing how he can do that.

And it is the flat hit from Djokovic and his absolute belief in

his technique that enables him to It is called wide, and that was a

grunting contest as well as a grunting contest as well as a

tennis point. They both knew how important it was, and it is a break.

Nadal there, with three or four forehands, at Djokovic, he was

forehands, at Djokovic, he was throwing everything. It was coming

back at pace. You have got to go They really went head-to-head on

that point and in that game and it was Djokovic who once again came

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Nadal questioning the serve. UMPIRE: Nadal is challenging the

It has been one of those night for Nadal. He still can't believe that.

He looked at the Marchand was convinced it was out. -- the mark

This is an absolute nothing again for Nadal, he gains nothing from

this. Right from the word go, the first wide serve where he mishit

the return, there is nothing going his way. He has to come up with

some ideas. If coaches were allowed on court, this is the time when

-- A Time Out. I have no idea what -- A Time Out. I have no idea what

he would say. That is a superb game, what a way to back up a break of

It is set fair at the moment for Djokovic. It is amazing to say this

Djokovic. It is amazing to say this but at the moment, at the match --

the match is totally out of Nadal's hands. As long as Djokovic doesn't

get tired, physically or mentally, there is nothing Nadal can seem to

do. He doesn't seem to have the pace in his game to knock Djokovic

out of the court and Djokovic is hardly making any Erez, imposing

himself -- any mistakes. Nadal has to fling himself a bad, try and get

into these rallies and create something for -- bring himself

about. But his top spin is being beaten by the fact shots right now,

it is a battle between the high forehands from Nadal and the flat

hitting from Djokovic and Djokovic is just steamrollering him at the

moment. And little less exuberance from the Spanish supporters -- a

little less. You might wear things like that to the stadium, but if

your man loses, you change, don't your man loses, you change, don't

you? Not if you are a truly loyal Nadal, in his mind, or he cannot

keep this up, that is his sort of I am going to be here until the

last point, coming at you. That is the way he is. He will think he has

to hold serve here and if he can keep holding, which is proving

difficult... Djokovic still has to win a couple of service games to

That wasn't a bad backhand cross- court from Nadal there, but it was

taken so easily and so early by Djokovic with a forehand down the

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line under the point is over. -- It is a flatter ball, isn't it?

This was without question the most feared shot and the game at this

stage. It has not proved to be, since this man came along, really.

To be fair, it is only Djokovic that can nullify it. That is what I

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No wonder they get tired and start talking about the season been too

This is turning into a tour-de- force for the Mac, exhibition

tennis. He seems to have all the time, all the options and all the

We could so easily have been watching Andy Murray instead of no

gap -- Novak Djokovic here. I wonder who Djokovic wanted to win

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That allows important hold of serve. At least he has something going in

the set, now he can ask Djokovic questions. Can you hold on, because

I am coming at you? He finally made a few mistakes in that game,

Djokovic. Just for a few minutes he Both these men have spearheaded

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Can you remember seeing him this Like Tigger without the bounce at

Be he is playing the second-best player in the world. Going up

against Nadal's serve, ETA has almost light there is no advantage

to Nadal serving, Djokovic looks like he can break his serve at will.

Jelena Ristic, who is with Novak Djokovic, she has some nice cold

water, settling in for what could be a set and again left. -- a game

left. She is looking a little happier than she was most of the

way through the first set and in the MORI match. -- Andy Murray

match. Will back is in control, but you will under the scoring system

in tennis it can change so fast. Nadal will now be thinking, hang on,

The Rod Laver Arena holds 15,000 people. They have all sorts of

events here, they had the Commonwealth games gymnastics here,

the world swimming championships, Nadal had a good look at a ball

that landed on his baseline. You cannot challenge now, you have to

stop the rally and make an immediate challenge. You have time

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Nadal's father, friends, agent, managers, Stringer's - nothing any

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What a shot! Two sets to one to the world number one. He is stamping

his authority on this Australian Open final. Is it inevitable that

he wins his fifth Grand Slam championship? That is a confident

Look at the winds from Nadal. Two, not enough. And he is making more

unforced errors. That is just frightening.

Why can't he hit more winners? How does he set. Up so he can? -- the

point up. That is the problem, he is always

on the back foot. The only chance he has, and he acknowledged that

when he looked up at his uncle Toni Nadal and moved closer to the

baseline, he is not doing any good, he is bouncing off Djokovic.

Djokovic has more time, he is hitting the ball flatter, harbour

and creating more angles. He is not likely to run ETA of

belief -- to run out of belief that impending victory, his he?

If he lost the fourth set maybe that would come into play, but at

some moment, these sort of winners he is hitting, Nadal can never get

on the front foot. He is being crushed by pace, power and accuracy,

defensive ability when Djokovic needs it. He cannot get into this

match. Really, his only hope, that he is a great champion, he will

keep trying to hang in there and hope that Djokovic's level will

Just to put his achievement into perspective, we talked about his

here last year. He is just the fifth man to win three of these

majors in a role. It is a rare feat at. Labour, Sampras, Federer and

His first response is for his sake but also for Djokovic's sake, just

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Point of the match. They had at least five winners each. Did Nadal

throw everything at him in that rally or what? Watched the sprint.

Watch Nadal if you can, he has his head down and just pumped his legs.

Trying to make around, but not to be. These guys are good. What comes

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after this generation? Somebody He is into his own, isn't he? Lots

of different expressions, he is playing out of the street, or

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How good must but failed to Nadal? He only wins one in five of these