RAFA NADAL has done the impossible Down Under.
Now, strap yourself in for the unmissable.
It was a sunlit Friday evening when he strode on court.
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By the time the Spaniard and Grigor Dimitrov all but crawled off, it was Saturday morning.
Two incredible fighters, worn down to the nub by their sheer will not to be beaten, soaked through and surviving on fumes.
It is the oldest cliche in the book, but it really was a crying shame one of them had to lose this semi-final.
In the end — four hours and 56 minutes on — that man was Dimitrov, who had never made a Grand Slam final and who might wonder if he will ever come closer.
Yet despite 15,000 fans at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena roaring him to the rafters, even he knows they got the winner — and Aussie Open final — they wanted.
The incredible, indomitable, unshakeable Nadal facing down Roger Federer, with whom he shares one of the greatest rivalries in any sport.
It is the fairytale showdown to end them all.
Yet it is only a few months since both were crippled by injury — Nadal his wrist, Federer his knee — and all but written off from ever making it back to the biggest stage.
A clearly emotional Nadal, 30, said: “I remember crying in the car back to the hotel from Roland Garros last summer, knowing I was injured and out of the French Open.
“That was a low moment. I never dreamed I’d be back in a final so soon.
“But I’m a positive person, so I also never said never.
“Like Roger said after his semi-final, when he came to help open my academy in Mallorca we weren’t even fit enough to play an exhibition match!
“We never thought we’d have a chance to be in another final together.
“A moment like this is something quite incredible. I’m happy for me — and I’m happy for him too.
"It's difficult to describe my emotions." - @RafaelNadal is back into the final of a Grand Slam!
#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/U6sy3CAoC4
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2017
“It’s a rivalry that goes beyond tennis and, with the Williams sisters in the women’s final, it’s a situation in terms of our age that will probably not happen again.
“But now, I just want to sleep!”
No wonder. His match was so brutal, it was even knackering to watch.
Nadal had come out the traps like a greyhound, taking the first set 6-3 against an outclassed Dimitrov, 25.
But shot by shot, point by point, the Bulgarian hauled himself off the canvas.
And in a second set riddled with breaks of serve, he came through 7-5.
The third set went to a tie-break, which Nadal edged, but Dimitrov did the same in the fourth.
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By now, the younger man was out of his comfort zone, having previously lost all six of his Grand Slam matches that went beyond 3½ hours.
After an epic opening game of the fifth, they were into a fifth hour. By 4-4, they had gone 26 straight games without a break of serve.
But then Dimitrov blinked with a double fault and two unforced errors to hand Nadal a break point — and he seized it with a stunning winner.
There was more drama as an ace to give the Spaniard match point was overruled by the umpire, only for replays to show it shaved the line.
Dimitrov clung in once, twice to force deuce, but two more loose shots sealed his fate 6-3 5-7 7-6 6-7 6-4.
And Nadal fell to the ground, face kissing the blue rubber surface.
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