Mats Wilander is hoping for an Australian Open final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Nadal is hoping to make history on Sunday by becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. It would be fitting if his great rival Federer was the man standing in the way in the final. The two fought out a five set classic two years ago with Nadal edging it to claim his first Australian Open title, reducing Federer to tears in the process.
Wilander won three Aussie Open titles at his peak and like everyone he is savouring the prospect of another major final between the world's top two players.
“I hope for a Federer-Nadal final,” he said. “In fact, I hope that I get to watch them play in major finals as long as Federer has got the spirit that he has at the moment. Because Rafa's spirit is not going anywhere. But I'm afraid that Roger's spirit won't last forever. He's almost 30, and he's figured something out.”
“He's been willing to step off the chair he was sitting on, and climb on a taller one. And that's huge. It's saying "OK, I admit it, I just can't beat Nadal the way I used to play". And had Nadal not been around, there would have been no reason for him to change his game. He's figured out that he wasn't going to beat Nadal defending. So I don't care if they play the final here, but I'd like to see them play a big final while the rivalry is still alive. It has to happen soon.”
However there are still several substantial hurdles in the way of the dream final. Both Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are in the form of their lives and know what it takes to beat the top two in the latter stages of a slam. Five fascinating days of tennis awaits us.
