Nadal's hold over Federer makes everything possible.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

So much has been written and discussed about the possibility of Roger Federer being, or becoming, the greatest player of the modern era that Rafa Nadal's extraordinary career has hardly been considered in that light. Yet here he is, at 22 years old, having just won his sixth major at the Australian Open. At this age -Federer had won two. And now, having become the first male Spaniard ever to win a hard‑court slam the intriguing -possibility has opened up of Nadal, and not Federer, winning the calendar slam, or at least winning all the four majors in his lifetime, something only five others players have managed -- Don Budge and Andre Agassi of the US, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson of Australia, and Britain's Fred Perry.

The Spaniard's knees remain a long-term worry, although he continues to defy all prognostications. He is a quite phenomenal competitor of exceptional tennis gifts, and has wormed his way inside Federer's head to such an extent that the 13-times slam champion must simply hope and pray that he will not be on the other side of the net when he again tries to equal Pete Sampras's all-time record of 14 majors, and then possibly to beat it. And Wimbledon still appears to be his best chance, even though Nadal halted his five-year winning run last summer.

Nadal's progression in the slams has been constant. He won the French Open at the first attempt in 2005 and has not relinquished the title since; while at -Wimbledon he reached the final in 2006, and then almost beat Federer the next year, before taking the title. As for the Australian Open he made the last eight in 2007, the semi-final a year ago, and is now the champion.

The one slam to cause him problems, principally because his knees have troubled him so much towards the end of the season, is the US Open, though he made the semi-finals there last year, losing over two rain-interrupted days against Andy Murray. For the moment, providing he stays healthy, nothing seems beyond him, even if he concedes he is unlikely ever to win the same number of slams as Federer. He has always deferred to the Swiss as the best player, while at the same time con-tinuing to beat him with a frequency that is now seriously damaging and -undermining his confidence, as was so obvious here.

The hard courts were Federer's last bastion. He had won eight of his 13 slams on them and now Nadal, who took over from him as the world No1 last year, has turned him over on this surface as he did on grass. This 7--5, 3--6, 7--6, 3--6, 6--2 victory was, in total, Nadal's 13th win against -Federer in 19 meetings, and his fifth in seven slam finals.

Federer could not control ...