[MK Chris]

Yep, on serve - Nadal has taken very few break points, but Verdasco has a potent serve.

[MK Chris]

That was a quite incredible match - the longest ever at the Australian Open - and one that didn't deserve to end on a sad note (Versasco double fault.)

The stats are extremely close - particularly in terms of total points won; in a match that spanned over five hours, it ended up with a single point between them. Notable as well is the number of winners - and aces - that Verdasco managed to hit against Nadal. Very few can do that.

Felt sorry for Versasco at the end - we'll be seeing more of him though, he's matured a lot since from the Davis Cup final against Argentina.

[Munki Bhoy]

Impressive. Nadal is one of those players who just makes you play that extra shot when you don't think he will get to it. They commented on that during the final at Wimbledon last year actually. You almost need to hit that many aces and winners to stand a chance of beating him.

I agree though, it was a shame to end on a double fault considering it was only his fourth over the five sets.

Sets us up for another Federer v Nadal match though. Early sunday morning, though I can't find the confirmed time of that. The ladies final tomorrow is on at 8.30am according to the BBC, but since it's Serena v Safina, I don't think I'll bother. The men play better tennis than the... manly women do. Weird.

[MK Chris]

Two of his double faults were in that last game - Nadal was 0-30 up and Verdasco hit a double fault to gift him three match points, two of which he saved very well. What's impressive about the aces and winners though, is who it was against. An ace is only an ace if your opponent doesn't get his racket to it and likewise a winner is only a winner if your opponent doesn't get it back - and Rafa gets his racket to loads usually - that speaks volumes about the quality of the Verdasco serve and his powerful, flat forehand. Most impressive about Verdasco (or 'Nando' as the 606 boards were calling him) was the ability to raise his game when it mattered most - mainly when Nadal had break points.

The men's final is 8.30 on Sunday.

Robson's final is 2am tonight, but it won't be televised - the host broadcaster (Channel 7 I believe) will only stick the cameras on if there's likely to be a big interest and while there would probably be over here, there won't be too many Aussies bothered about the girls' final when they have no home interest in it. Apparently it's on Five Live though, I'll be listening. I don't want to call it, but Laura is the slight underdog I think.

I wouldn't like to call the men's final either - Rafa will have less time to recover, but he hits it to Federer's weak spot on his backhand, that's why Federer has lost so many against him. The heavy topspin won't bounce up so much on the hard court like it does on grass and particularly on clay, but it could still cause him problems.

I love this sport.

[Munki Bhoy]

Cool. I'll stay in bed tomorrow and get up on Sunday then. My poor girlfriend, who's working tonight and tomorrow night, is going to end up picking either sleeping on Sunday morning and getting up to watch the Celtic game, or staying up and watching the tennis and sleeping through the football. Or worse, she'll watch both. I'm glad I work office hours.

Anyway, I think you're right about Robson. She's underdog if for no other reason than her age! She's punching above her weight. I saw something on the news earlier where they were saying how we were onto something special if she could win this. Now, not wanting to piss in anyone's chips here, but first... what happened to not wanting to put any pressure on her?! That was the mantra when she won Junior Wimbledon. Now they're getting all excited again. To make it worse, they then compared her with the last junior Brit to win two Junior Slams... Annabel Croft. Sorry, but all I remember her for was having a lisp on Treasure Hunt. She never really went on to fulfil* that potential. Hopefully the same won't happen to Robson, the media back off and let her develop her game naturally, and we'll see how she gets on in a few more years.

Mind you, Murray did win Junior US a few years ago and it was only a few months ago he was in the final of that Slam, so you never know.

As for Nadal v Federer... I can't wait. It's going to be another great game, but I fancy Roger's back on form again. That coupled with Nadal's epic match length might just swing it in his favour and get him up there Pistol Pete.

* Is it really fulfil, or has my FireFox gone mental?

[MK Chris]

Yeah, she's certainly not incapable, but I would favour the other girl slightly. My feeling is that Pervak would be higher if she wasn't doing senior events as well; having said that, Heather Watson had a bloody good go.

Annabel Croft got to about 20 or 21 in the world I think, but she only got to the second and third rounds in most of the slams. The big difference between her and Laura is Laura's age - she's a good couple of years younger than Croft was when she won the junior majors. That said, I agree, the media need to leave her alone - and as there's two hopes of that, the people around her need to shield her from the media. Is she back in the papers at the moment? I imagine she is, but I haven't looked at a paper in a long time.

As for the men's final, I think there's a danger with expectations on it. Wimbledon rerun, but on hard court.... Nadal will be tired - he's the fittest man on the tour, but whether he can raise his level again is something that remains to be seen. I hope so (if only for the sake of my bet!) If people expect a classic, it's more likely to be an anti-climax. It could potentially be a good match.

[catherine]

It's going to be a fun weekend...

[Munki Bhoy]

If people are expecting it to be a classic like Wimbledon last year then they'll probably be disappointed. But I've seen enough matches between these two to know I probably won't be disappointed. It might not be a classic, but it's likely to be of top quality. The only match I've seen between the two of them that was anything like disappointing was the French last year when Nadal blew Federer away. It was just so one-sided, but then that was down to Nadal's brilliance more than anything else, so it was hard to be all that disappointed.

Oh, and Annabel Croft... I'm glad she's presenting on Eurosport now. She might have had a lisp, but I still preferred her to Annika Rice back then. And interestingly, the lisp seems to have gone now and she has aged very well. Actually, so has Annika Rice. Maybe the secret to long life is helicopters. Or camera men watching your arse.

[MK Chris]

Laura Robson is looking like a real prospect. How tall is she?

5'8", but she has put on a growth spurt recently; she was 5'6" at Wimbledon apparently. Courtesy of Jonathan Overend.

[pjordan2000]

I didn't realise she'd be Girls No. 1 if she wins.....? She's expressed her interest in a Wildcard at Wimbledon too

[pjordan2000]

I didn't realise she'd be Girls No. 1 if she wins.....? She's expressed her interest in a Wildcard at Wimbledon too

[pjordan2000]

I didn't realise she'd be Girls No. 1 if she wins.....? She's expressed her interest in a Wildcard at Wimbledon too

[pjordan2000]

I didn't realise she'd be Girls No. 1 if she wins.....? She's expressed her interest in a Wildcard at Wimbledon too

[pjordan2000]

I didn't realise she'd be Girls No. 1 if she wins.....? She's expressed her interest in a Wildcard at Wimbledon too

[MK Chris]

Is a quintuple post a record?

Yeah, she'll become world number one junior, which would be a quite incredible achievement. I'm pretty sure she automatically gets a wildcard into the seniors at Wimbledon as last year's junior winner.

[Munki Bhoy]

6-1 6-3 she lost. Which is slightly better than Safina lost in the grown ups final.

Hopefully she'll see this as another experience to learn from and not be too disappointed.

[MK Chris]

(6-3 6-1 actually, but whatever). From the commentary on the radio, she played well in spells, but the other girl was just too strong - which is probably the result of playing in senior events. Clearly if Pervak was playing junior tournaments more often, she would be world number one by a country mile - but then if she was doing that, she probably wouldn't be the standard she is, so maybe she wouldn't.

Interesting to see how they try and push Laura through the senior ranks now.

As for the women's, well, if Serena is trying and she wants to win, not one woman in the world can beat her - not even Venus, but we all know how much she tries against her sister.

[Munki Bhoy]

Stupid rule. Federer on a second serve is called out. It's a double fault. Federer challenges, sees it catches the back of the line and it's therefore in. Federer then gets a first serve, not a second.

Stupid rule. And it won Federer the fourth set.

[MK Chris]

It is a stupid rule, he should still be on second serve. It's a loophole that needs to be closed.

However, I am delighted with the outcome of that - what a match! I do have to say that John Lloyd never ceases to amaze me, twat that he is. Before today's match he said that he had 'predicted from the start that the winner would come from the Murray / Nadal side of the draw' - that is total bollocks, I heard him say that he thought Murray would win it. He also said that the standard of play in this final was on a par with the Wimbledon final, which is also utter bollocks - both Federer and Nadal were poor in parts. It was a great match because of the excitement and there were some incredible points, but in terms of the standard that both players were playing at, Wimbledon was clearly better.

That said, I have come to the conclusion that Nadal is almost super human. Nearly 10 hours of tennis in two days - and winning both - quite astonishing.

Well, the French is the next major - barring injury, I fancy Rafa to probably not drop a set again. Wimbledon, I think he'll do as well and the US is the biggest challenge... I stand to win £100 if he does all four though.

[Munki Bhoy]

Having watched a game and a half of dire football since this morning's fantastic tennis, I'm on the verge of changing my answer to "what is your favourite sport".

The Wimbledon final it was not, but that's not to say it wasn't four and a half hours of thrilling tennis. Those two are the best the sport has to offer and they do not disappoint any time I see them. The fact Murray can even live with them is credit to him.

As for Nadal - I think the commentator hit the nail on the head when he compared him with Borg. I'm assuming he meant Bjorn, but it could easily have been the relentless aliens from Star Trek who never give up and are never beaten and even when you're exhausted they keep coming like they did at the start. Best named bad guys ever. That's how Bjorn Borg played, and it's how Rafael Nadel plays too.

Federer looked dead on his feet at the end of that match. You'd think it was him that had the five hour match prior to the final. But I don't think Federer's done just yet. That 14th slam will come. Most likely at Wimbledon if it's this year, barring injury to Nadal at the French. I'd hate to see that happen.

Whatever happens though, I'n glad I'm of an age now where I can enjoy such an epic and well mannered rivalry at the top of Tennis. Long may it continue. Although if Djokovic or Murray or anyone else wants to raise their game and add to it, they'll be more than welcome.

And on that note, back to Liversnooze v Chelsleep.

[MK Chris]

They're the best tennis has to offer, indeed none of the other sports can match such a brilliant and exciting, yet extremely respectful and sporting rivalry.

There are many parallels for Borg-Nadal -Rafa was the first person since Borg to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon back to back, the first person since Borg to win four French titles on the trot (which, in all likeliness, is a record he'll be breaking this year), and I believe the first man since Borg to not drop a set at the French... to name but three. True, he's never beaten, his temperament is exemplary. Even Federer drops his shoulders occasionally, but Rafa never does.

Again there was one point in it, like Nadal's semi-final (although this time Federer was the one with the edge on total number of points won.)

[Bonanzoid]

I was watching some of it at Gatwick and whichever set it was that Nadal took because of Federer's double fault I couldn't help but be underwhelmed by the tennes. Granted at the start of the next set Federer was playing some peaches.

[Yudster]

.......... at the start of the next set Federer was playing some peaches.

I never knew he was a Stranglers fan. Still, no wonder he lost, I would have thought he'd need to concentrate on the tennis playing someone as good as Nadal.

[catherine]

Thrilling tennis? ahahaha

[MK Chris]

It actually was thrilling tennis. But then I get excited watching sport, especially when I'm supporting one of the competitors or teams.