We're officially "back to the future" Down Under. The Australian Open has provided us with some fantastic tennis over the course of the last two weeks, and amidst all of the upsets that have happened on both sides of the draw, it's only fitting that some of the old souls of the sport are the ones that are still playing into the weekend. On the men's side, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have fallen a long way from when they were last in a Grand Slam final together six years ago; neither one is even ranked in the Top 5 in the world any longer. But they're here in the Aussie Open final in what should be a match for the ages for both men.
The fixture between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will take place on Sunday, January 29, 2017, at 3:30 a.m. ET at Rod Laver Stadium. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN.
Tennis Odds at BookMaker.eu
Roger Federer +110
Rafael Nadal -130
Odds Analysis
Time and time again, Federer would be favored over Nadal on hard courts and grass courts, while Nadal was nearly unbeatable on clay. But now, Federer is looked upon as at the end of his rope, while Nadal seems to have just a little more left in his tank, and that's why the Spaniard has opened up at -130 to win a match that could clearly go either way.
What's worth remembering though, is that Nadal played on Friday night ( and into Saturday morning ) in the semifinals while Federer had a full extra day to recuperate. That could end up making all the difference and often provides a real unfair advantage to the men playing in the semis in the top half of these brackets in Grand Slam events.
Head To Head History
For all of the great accolades that Federer has in his career, including being in more major finals, semifinals and quarterfinals in the history of men's tennis to go with the most Grand Slam titles ever, it's Nadal who has the edge in this series by a relatively wide 23-11 margin.
The two haven't met since playing in Basel in 2015, a match Federer won in three sets. The last time these two played in a major was in the semifinal of the 2014 Australian Open, and Nadal took out Federer in straight sets. Nadal holds a 9-7 advantage on hard courts against Federer all-time, including going 2-0 here at the Australian Open.
All-time in finals, Nadal holds a 14-7 advantage over Federer, including going 6-2 all-time in Grand Slam finals against the man who holds more Grand Slam championships than anyone else.
Free Tennis Pick
Nadal has been in top form of late, but we just wonder what is still in the tank after beating Grigor Dimitrov in five hours on Friday night and into Saturday morning. For all that we've seen great out of Nadal here in Melbourne, his service games are still an issue at times, and there's only so long that he can possibly go without beating the snot out of himself as he has at times in the twilight of his career.
Federer has picked up at least three breaks in all of his matches here in the Australian Open, and his return game at this stage of his career is still fantastic.
Sure, the history is against the Swiss man, but there isn't a player in the world who knows how to win Grand Slam events quite like Federer. We suspect that he's going to come up with one of the biggest matches in his career on Sunday night in Melbourne to snare his fifth Aussie Open title and his 10th Grand Slam championship on hard courts.
Tennis Odds: Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
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