Australian Open Tennis

At last he did it. Rafael Nadal bet Roger Federer and won the trophy.

Rafael Nadal held off Roger Federer in another momentum-swinging, five-set final to win the Australian Open on Sunday, keeping the Grand Slam singles record safe for now.

After coming through the longest match in the tournament's history to reach the championship match, Nadal needed 4 hours, 23 minutes Sunday to win 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2.

Federer, who was trying to equal Pete Sampras' 14 major titles, has lost to Nadal the last three times they've met in Grand Slam finals.

The 27-year-old Swiss star couldn't hold back tears at the presentation.

“Maybe I'll try later. God, it's killing me,” Federer said, sobbing. He returned to congratulate Nadal within minutes, saying: “You deserved it. You played a fantastic final.”

Nadal collected the trophy and put his arm around Federer.

“Roger, sorry for today. I really know how you feel right now,” Nadal said. “Remember, you're a great champion, you're one of the best in history.”

He accepted the cup from Rod Laver, who was in Australia to mark the start of the 40th anniversary of the last Grand Slam season.

“To receive this trophy from Rod Laver is a dream for me,” Nadal said.

Federer, so dominant when he won three of the four majors in 2006 and 2007, has now lost finals on three different surfaces to Nadal.

Now it's the 22-year-old Nadal who seems more likely to be the first since Laver to complete a Grand Slam with wins in one year in all four majors.

Nadal, who has four consecutive titles on clay at Roland Garros and beat Federer on grass in a five-set epic at Wimbledon last year, became the first Spaniard to win the Australian title.

He has now won five of the seven Grand Slam finals he's played against Federer and is 13-6 overall against him.

Nadal beat Federer in the last French Open and Wimbledon finals and replaced him at No. 1 last August after winning the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Federer, who turned around that season with a U.S. Open title, saved two championship points from 15-40 in the eighth game of the fifth set but sent a forehand long on the third match point.

Nadal flopped onto his back, then got up and raced to shake hands.

The players put their arms around the other's shoulders at the net as they walked off the court.

Drenched in sweat, Nadal raised his fist, applauded the crowd's standing ovation, then went over to shake hands with his coach and other supporters.

Although Federer actually won one more point174-173his serve let him down all too frequently. He connected on only 51 percent of his first serves, and it seemed as if all of his six double-faults came at critical times.

And as the pressure ratcheted up in the fifth set, it was Federer who wilted, not Nadal. Federer had six winners and 14 unforced errors in the set, while Nadal had just two unforced errors and dropped only three points in four service games.

With more Swiss flags than Spanish national colors, the crowd was buzzing even during warmups.

Despite flashes of brilliance, what they got wasn't always great tennis early, but there was no shortage of drama.

Both players started tight, committing uncharacteristic errors. Knowing that weak shots would be punished, they were pushing the limits.

They exchanged service breaks in the first two games. Normally calm on court, Federer pumped his fist after breaking for a 4-2 lead only to double-fault when facing break point in the next game.

Nadal got the key break with Federer serving at 5-5. The crowd was stunned when he smacked a forehand wide on an easy short ball to make it 15-40, and Nadal followed with a forehand passing shot winner, then held for the set.

With Nadal seemingly getting to everything and ripping winners, Federer was looking tentative and hesitating to charge the net.

But he started putting winners together and cutting his mistakes in the second set. After Nadal broke for a 4-3 lead, Federer broke the Spaniard's next two service games, taking a 5-3 lead after converting his fifth break point of the game. He then held to take the set.

Then the match intensified. One fan shouted: “Make him work, Roger!” referring to Nadal's 5-hour, 14-minute semifinal win over Fernando Verdasco on Friday, which could have left him tired. But Nadal showed few signs of fatigue.

Amid a series of rallies lasting more than 20 shots, Nadal saved six break points in his last two service games in the third set, and Federer fended off a set point while serving at 5-6.

A lunging backhand volley winner gave Nadal a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker, earning him chants of “Rafa!” and Federer double-faulted.

Federer saved five break points while serving at 2-2 in the fourth set, then broke Nadal in the next game for a 4-2 edge.

He closed with a service winner to even it at two sets apiece.

Nadal broke Federer for a 3-1 lead and the clock ticked past midnight in the next game, taking the tournament into a third week.

Australian Open Tennis

Ya , she got the honor back. Again it is the reign of Williams.

Serena Williams thrashed Russia's Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 to win her fourth Australian Open title Saturday, bringing up her 10th Grand Slam and reclaiming the world number one ranking on the way.

In one of the most lop-sided deciders ever, the American utterly dominated third seed Safina, allowing her opponent to win only eight points in the first set and claiming the championship in less than an hour.

"I'm so excited ... I clearly love playing here and I get great support here. I don't get that every place I go," Williams said, after winning the first women's night final played in the Rod Laver Arena.

Williams, the second seed, emphatically backed up her pre-tournament comments that she was the best women's tennis player in the world and will now officially reclaim the top ranking from Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.

She also became the highest ever prize money winner in women's sport during the tournament and took the women's doubles title with her sister Venus on Friday.

Williams said she was thrilled to join the likes of Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova in the elite group of women with 10 or more Grand Slams.

"I idolised Steffi Graf," she said. "When I played her I was like 'Oh My God, it's Steffi Graf' and Martina Navratilova was someone who was my role model, so when I think of these greats I don't really think of my name, I think of them.

"I think people are starting to think of me (in those terms), which is uber-cool, I can't even get my mind around that."

Safina, whose brother Marat Safin won the men's title in 2005, had aimed to enter the history books as the part of the only brother-sister combination to hold Grand Slam titles.

Instead, she narrowly avoided entering the record books as being on the wrong end of the worst drubbing in a final in the tournament's history, saying Williams left her feeling like "a ball boy on the court today."

"She played exactly the way she had to play and she was much more aggressive and she was just taking time away from me," the 22-year-old said. "She didn't let me come into the match."

Only Graf in 1994 and Margaret Smith in 1962 have posted more comprehensive victories in the decider, both winning 6-0, 6-2.

Safina put the loss down to stage fright, saying Williams' experience proved a crucial factor, but vowed to dust herself off and come back better than ever.

The Russian also lost her only previous Grand Slam final at the French Open last year, but Williams was full of praise after the match.

"Dinara has a good future," she said. "She's hitting the ball so hard I just had to go for broke.

"Thanks to her for putting on a great show for women's tennis," added the American, who continued a sequence of winning the Australian Open title in odd-numbered years, with her previous wins coming in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Safina may take some comfort from compatriot Maria Sharapova, who also managed to take just three games off Williams when she was humbled 6-1, 6-2 in the 2007 final but came back to take the title the following year.

Williams showed no signs of the service problems that dogged her early in the tournament and aggressively took the match to Safina from the outset.

It was Safina's serve, with its trademark high ball toss, which fell apart as she coughed up three double faults in her opening service game to gift Williams an easy break.

She continued to break Safina at will, while the Russian could only manage two points off Williams' serve in a first set that was over in 22 minutes.

"I saw that it was so fast and I thought, 'OK, I've got to stay focused,'" Williams said.

"I thought 'Safina, she's a warrior, she never gives up, she's been down a couple of match points already in the tournament, so I've got to stay focused."

Safina desperately tried to regroup and broke Williams in the first game of the second set but could not stop the rout and conceded the match when she hit a drop shot wide after 59 minutes.

Australian Open Tennis

Its the day for win and get the slam.

With nine Grand Slams already in the trophy cabinet, US veteran Serena Williams says all the pressure will be on Russia's Dinara Safina when the pair clash in the Australian Open final Saturday.

The American is the bookies' red-hot favourite to win her fourth Australian title in the Rod Laver Arena, while Safina acknowledges she is the underdog in her search for a first Grand Slam crown.

Adding spice to the match, the winner will replace Serb Jelena Jankovic as the number one ranked player in the world.

Williams said she was keen to "leave her mark" and enter the elite group of players with 10 or more majors but felt relaxed going into the 13th Grand Slam decider of her career.

The 27-year-old has struggled with poor form in the tournament but still did enough to reach the final, becoming the biggest prizewinner in the history of women's sport on the way.

"I feel like I have nothing to lose," the reigning US Open champion said.

"If I win, that would be great. If I lose, I'll just leave with the confidence that I can get far in a tournament when I'm not playing my best and go home and work even harder for the next time."

Williams, who came into the tournament as second seed, said she was desperate to win a fourth title in Melbourne, where she has triumphed in every final she has contested.

The American has a 5-1 winning record over Safina, seeded third here, whose only previous appearance in a Grand Slam final was a straight sets loss to Ana Ivanovic in last year's French Open.

But Williams was wary of Safina, who she said had transformed into an intense, tenacious and incredibly fit player whose loss at Roland Garros would spur her on in Saturday's final.

"She's going to be way more hungry for it and want it even more. That's going to be definitely going for her," she said.

For Safina, a win in the final would allow her to finally energe from elder brother Marat Safin's shadow.

It would also create a piece of history, with the siblings becoming the first brother-sister combination to each hold the number one ranking.

The 22-year-old, who admits her combustible temperament sometimes means she is her own worst enemy on the court, expected her French Open experience would help settle any big-match nerves during Saturday's final.

"I hope all the experience, all the pressure, I went through in that match will help me for my next match on Saturday," she said.

She has shed seven kilograms (15.5 pounds) in the past six months and will contest the final in the best physical shape of her life, also crediting coach Zeljko Krajan with adding mental steel to her game.

Her new attitude was on display when she defeated Australia's Jelena Dokic in front of a fiercely parochial crowd in the quarter-finals, a win she said would not have happened 12 months ago.

"I stayed very tough mentally there, I didn't panic," she said. It made me stronger now.

"I hope (the crowd) are going to be behind me, as I'm underdog coming into the final."

While some players concede they feel intimidated against Williams, Safina said she was eager to test herself against the American.

"I can't talk about the other players, how they feel when they play against her, just myself," she said.

"We played three times last year and I beat her once. I'm looking forward to playing against her this time."