RAFAEL NADAL defeated Grigor Dimitrov over five gruelling sets to book a mouth-watering final clash with old rival Roger Federer.
Against all the odds, one of the greatest tennis rivalries of ever will collide once again on Sunday for the 35th time with a remarkable 22 of those coming in Grand Slam finals.
For five scintillating hours of tennis, the match was impossible to call with both players battling through fatigue for a spot against the great Swiss.
The Spaniard, who has 14 Grand Slam titles, took the first set 6-3 against the Bulgarian Dimitrov after breaking his serve in the fourth game with a stunning backhand.
It has been a long time coming to see Nadal back to his best but he looked rejuvenated and his selection of shots were a quick reminder as to why he was classed as one of the greatest players of all-time.
But Dimitrov, ranked 15th in the world and still seeking his first Grand Slam title bounced back in a nail-biting second set to win 7-5.
Coming out all guns blazing, he broke Nadal in the fourth game before being broken back in the seventh in an end-to-end clash.
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For all of Nadal’s resilience in the second set, Dimitrov held his nerve as they went into the third set all square.
Once again there was barely anything between the duo who were putting their all into making the final.
As the crowd roared on Nadal, the Spaniard used all his experience to come out on top in the tie break 7-6 and put himself within one set of facing Federer once again.
And keeping with the trend of the previous two sets, the pair matched each other all the way.
Nadal was tiring which was evident of a couple of sloppy forehands and a ripple of chants came from the small section of Bulgarian fans in the crowd trying to cheer on their compatriot.
With the score tied at 4-4, Nadal continued to work him over and was just a game away from his fourth final in Melbourne.
But Dimitrov proved an extremely tough nut to crack. He levelled the set to 5-5 and then 6-6 before winning the tie break and taking it to one last set.
Five hours of epic tennis finally looked like it was coming to a conclusion when Nadal broke Dimitrov in the ninth set of the fifth game.
Serving for the game he held his nerve and fist pumped the air. He knows it could be his last Grand Slam final and what a way to do it.
Federer will go into the final on Sunday with an extra day rest but even non-tennis fans can appreciate two legends battling it out for yet another Grand Slam.
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