Nadal, Federer to face off in Australian Open finals
Longtime rivals Roger Federer, the No. 17 seed, and Rafael Nadal, the No. 9 seed, will face off Sunday in the Australian Open singles finals. Nadal made it to his first Grand Slam final since 2014 after a nearly five-hour-long semifinal match against Grigor Dimitrov that began in Melbourne on Friday evening and didn't wrap up until 12:44 a.m. local time Saturday.
Federer and Nadal haven't faced each other in a Grand Slam final since the 2011 French Open, where Nadal beat Federer in four sets. Though Nadal has beat Federer in 9 out of their 11 Grand Slam matchups, he has been sidelined in recent years because of injuries. Nadal will be fighting for his 15th major title, while Federer will be battling for his 18th.
But before Federer and Nadal face off, sisters Serena Williams, the No. 2 seed, and Venus Williams, the No. 13 seed, will take the court for the women's final Saturday. Venus' success in the semifinals Tuesday over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova advanced her to a Grand Slam final for the first time in eight years:
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The Williams sisters are "the two active players with the most Grand Slam singles titles," The New York Times reported. Serena has won 22 titles, while Venus has won seven.
Between the men's and the women's finals, this will be "the first Grand Slam tournament in the Open era in which all four singles finalists are 30 or older," the Times noted. Nadal is 30, Federer is 35, Serena is 35, and Venus is 36.
The women's match starts Saturday at 7:30 p.m. local time, or 3:30 a.m. ET. The men's starts Sunday at 7:30 p.m. local time, or 3:30 a.m. ET.
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