Federer won 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in three hours 38 minutes on Rod Laver Arena to move four major titles ahead of Nadal and Pete Sampras on the all-time winners’ list.

The Swiss marvel also became the oldest man in the post-1968 Open era to win a major final since Australia’s Ken Rosewall at the 1972 Australian Open. It was Federer’s fifth Australian title in his sixth final, and ended a long, seven-year wait to win again in Melbourne after his 2010 triumph over Andy Murray.

It was the 35th meeting between the two great rivals with Nadal now leading 23-12 and 6-3 in major finals, including his five-set win over Federer in the 2009 Australian final.

Roger Federer celebrates with the championship trophy during the awards ceremony after his victory over Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open men’s singles final at Melbourne Park on Sunday. AFP

Federer, playing with a flatter backhand than normal, took the match to Nadal and got the only service break to take the opening set.

Nadal fought back with two breaks to level before Federer got the bit between his teeth with a double break in the third set.

The Spaniard hit back in the fourth set with a service break in the fourth game to take the final into a fifth set.

He again broke the Swiss early in the final set but Federer rose to the occasion and broke Nadal twice to win a classic encounter as he served out for a strong win, jumping for joy as he did so and quickly tearing up.

Federer also becomes the first man in history to win five or more titles at three different Grand Slam events. He has won five Australian Opens, seven Wimbledons, five US Opens and one French Open.

Men’s final, as it happened

Set-by-set breakdown of the Australian Open men’s final, after Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Sunday:

Set 1 – Federer 6-4, 34 minutes

In a tense atmosphere at Rod Laver Arena, the final goes with serve until game seven, when a Federer volley sets up two break points and he breaks as Nadal fires a backhand wide. It’s all Federer needs to take a one-set lead as he serves it out, sealing the set with an ace.

Set 2 – Nadal 6-3, 42 minutes

Nadal puts Federer under pressure in his first service game and his one-handed backhand cracks under the pressure of the Spaniard’s heavy forehands, as he nets when facing his second break point. Federer then works two break-back points in Nadal’s next service game, but he miscues with his forehand each time. Another forehand error hands Nadal the double break and despite Federer getting a break back, Nadal levels the match on another mistake from the Swiss’s forehand.

Set 3 – Federer 6-1, 41 minutes

Federer produces three aces to stave off three break points in a 10-minute opening game, and he immediately makes Nadal pay when he breaks him in the next game. Nadal saves more break points at 0-3 down but he is broken again for 1-5 when Federer creams a superb backhand return winner. Federer, when serving for the set, faces down a break point with a service winner before he grabs a 2-1 sets lead with a cool backhand volley.

Set 4 – Nadal 6-3, 40 minutes

Nadal comes roaring back and he breaks Federer in game four when the Swiss puts a backhand volley into the net. The Spaniard holds brilliantly in the fourth game when he retrieves a deep Federer backhand and flicks it back for a crosscourt winner that draws applause from his opponent. Federer aces twice to see off another break point and hold for 2-4 down, but the set is Nadal’s and he converts the first of three set points to force the decider.

Set 5 – Federer 6-3, 61 minutes

Federer returns from a medical time-out and he’s immediately broken to go 0-1 down when he sprays a forehand wide. Nadal fights off three break points in the next game and he moves to 2-1 up before Federer has treatment to his right thigh at the changeover. Nadal produces a big backhand winner to survive a break point in game four but Federer breaks back in the sixth when the Spaniard flashes a forehand narrowly wide. At 3-4 down, Nadal bravely saves four break points but on the fifth, Federer’s wide, sharply angled backhand return is too much for the Spaniard to get back over the net. Serving for the championship, Federer saves two break points before he finally clinches it on his second match point, despite a despairing Hawk-Eye challenge from Nadal. AFP

Raonic beat the seven-time champion 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Centre Court, handing the Swiss great his first loss ever in the Wimbledon semifinals after 10 straight wins.

The 25-year-old Raonic became the first Canadian man in history to advance to the final of a Grand Slam tournament. The only other Canadian to get this far was Eugenie Bouchard, the women’s runner-up at Wimbledon in 2014.

Raonic avenged a Wimbledon semifinal loss to Federer in straight sets two years ago.

In Sunday’s final, he’ll face the winner of the semifinal match between 2013 champion Andy Murray and 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych

World number one and top seed Djokovic, who turns 29 on the opening day of the tournament on Sunday, needs a Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam after losing three finals in four years, including last season to Stan Wawrinka.

Should Djokovic and nine-time French Open champion Nadal meet in the last-four it will be their 50th career clash in a rivalry which began in 2006 at Roland Garros.

Djokovic has the edge at 26-23, claiming the pair’s last seven encounters.

Fourth seed Wawrinka is scheduled to take on second seed Andy Murray in the other semi-final.

Top seed Djokovic, bidding for a 12th career major, starts his campaign against Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun, the world number 100 who made the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2010.

Djokovic is seeded to face Tomas Berdych in the last-eight while he could tackle volatile Australian Bernard Tomic in the fourth round.

Tomic was accused by the Serb of lacking commitment after a tame exit at the Madrid Masters last month.

Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in the quarter-finals in 2015, had originally been set to be seeded at five until 2009 champion Roger Federer withdrew through injury on Thursday.

Nadal starts his French Open against big-serving Sam Groth of Australia with a potential quarter-final against home hope, and two-time semi-finalist, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

With his 30th birthday just around the corner, Nadal has arguably the toughest draw of the top men but will be buoyed by a recent return to form which saw him claim the Monte Carlo and Barcelona titles.

Italy’s Fabio Fognini, who came back from two sets down to beat Nadal at the US Open last year, is a possible third round opponent.

Rising Austrian Dominic Thiem, the man who knocked Federer out in Rome, is lying in wait in the round of 16.

– Serena eyes 22nd Slam – SUB HEAD

Murray, fresh from beating Djokovic in the Rome Masters final, will meet a qualifier in the first round with a potential quarter-final against Japan’s Kei Nishikori.

Murray has been handed a relatively smooth path although a mouth-watering clash with Nick Kyrgios of Australia is a potential last-eight match-up should Nishikori stumble. AFP

The 34-year-old, bidding to become the oldest champion in New York in 45 years, took just 87 minutes to beat Gasquet for the 15th time in 17 meetings, his 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory only revealing half the story.
The Swiss fired 50 winners and 16 aces and did not face a single break point.
Federer hasn’t dropped a set at the tournament in five rounds and has been broken just twice.
But he will be wary of the danger posed by Wawrinka despite holding a 16-3 career edge.
Wawrinka defeated him in their last meeting in straight sets in the quarter-finals on his way to the French Open title in June.
“I faced the big serves of John Isner in the last round so I felt tonight I had a little extra time,” said second seed Federer.
“I stayed aggressive and enjoyed myself.”

Also enjoying themselves watching the master at work on Arthur Ashe Stadium were Andre Agassi and Bjorn Borg as well as celebrities such as Justin Timberlake and Bradley Cooper.
“Stan played wonderfully against me in Paris and I was happy for him that he won the title. He really deserved it,” added Federer, who was playing in his 46th Grand Slam quarer-final to Gasquet’s fourth.
“He has worked so hard and really improved. I am happy to play him here for the first time. It’s cool for us and Switzerland.”
Wawrinka reached the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 rout of South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.
Wawrinka, the 30-year-old fifth seed, booked a spot in his second US Open last-four match, having also reached the same stage in 2013.

“I played my best match of the tournament so far,” said Wawrinka.
“Against Roger, I will need to play my best to win. It’s a big challenege but I am ready.”
Anderson, the 15th seed and playing in his first Grand Slam quarter-final, had knocked out third seed Andy Murray in the previous round.
That effort seemed to take its toll as he committed 42 unforced errors and carved out just a single break point against the fifth-seeded Wawrinka, who romped to victory in just 107 minutes.
The result shattered 29-year-old Anderson’s hopes of becoming the first South African in the semi-finals in New York since Johan Kriek in 1980.

Anderson had won four of his last seven meetings with Wawrinka but he was horribly out of sorts on Wednesday, dropping serve in the seventh game of the first set and ninth of the second.
The third set was all over in 25 minutes with Anderson winning just five points.
“It was really tough out there. Was maybe a little bit nervous just with the occasion and a lot of waiting around, switching courts,” said Anderson after the match was moved from Ashe to Louis Armstrong Stadium because of worries over rain forecast for the evening.
“Obviously it’s something that you deal with, but just getting out there and everything seemed to be going pretty quickly.”

Even Roger Federer, the seven-time champion and a lifelong admirer of the All England Club’s traditions, has ramped up his criticism of the rule which demands predominantly white outfits.

“I love Wimbledon but they’ve gone too far now. The rules have become ridiculously strict,” said the Swiss legend.

It is the second time in two seasons that Federer has hit out at the rule which calls for “suitable tennis attire that is almost entirely white”.

“We’re all white. White, white, full-on white. I think it’s very strict,” Federer said 12 months ago.

“My personal opinion, I think it’s too strict. If you look at the pictures of Edberg, Becker, there was some colours, you know, but it was ‘all white’.”

The colour code at Wimbledon is often controversial.

Last year Caroline Wozniacki said reports that officials would check the colour of women’s underwear as “a little creepy”.

This week, Canadian poster girl Eugenie Bouchard fell foul of the rules after wearing a black bra.

Flamboyant American player Bethanie Mattek-Sands said she supported Federer’s complaints.

“I didn’t even get married in white,” she said.

Mattek-Sands once appeared on Wimbledon Centre Court wearing a coat made of tennis balls and has also taken to a court with warpaint beneath her eyes.

She claims a Nike-designed white playing bra was judged to be unsuitable at Wimbledon because it had a yellow stripe.

“I think it’s gotten a little excessive. It was funny, because I was actually Googling some players like when John McEnroe played, Arthur Ashe, they had colour everywhere,” said Mattek-Sands who makes a mini-statement by appearing on court with knee-high white socks.

“I feel it’s actually gotten stricter. You can’t even wear off-white or cream. I was like, man, if you wash your whites too many times, they will be illegal. Better be washing it in cold water.

“I had a little mesh on my shirt today (in Wednesday’s win over Ana Ivanovic). I have like I think one legal pair of shorts that is on rotation hopefully in cold water. One skirt I think that’s legal.”

Mattek-Sands, 30, would never be one to settle for the ordinary when it comes to fashion choice.

When she married insurance executive Justin Sands in 2008, she walked down the aisle in black.

“I actually wore a black dress. When I went shopping for it, they wanted me to try some stuff on, and I said, Look, I’m not going to wear anything white, off-white, cream, light pink, I said, so just don’t even hand me those,” she recalled.

“They’re like, Well, we have this black evening gown. I’m like, Perfect. First one I tried and got that one.”

On Thursday, Wozniacki said, like it or not, players have to accept the rules.

“If they say it’s all white, it’s all white. You try and be creative,” said the Dane after reaching the third round.

“We’ve tried to do that with my dress. But I think every tennis player enjoys to play with a tiny bit of colour. It’s fun to try to be creative even though you have to wear white.”