A humdinger

It shouldn't have ended so incongruously, not with a double fault after the glorious tennis one witnessed.

After 5 hours and 14 minutes there shouldn't have been a loser; especially not the one with 95 winning shots. But then, the one with only 25 unforced errors couldn't be the loser either.

Just as you thought the ball couldn't be stuck any harder, the ground strokes couldn't get any better or the forehand shots any more glorious, both these men came out with something that made you sit up on your seats. Both played unbelievably, both were as relentless as the harsh Australian summer; sad that there can be only one winner. As Nadal lay down on the ground out of sheer exhaustion and relief, more than joy probably, your heart went out to the person on the other side of the net, the one beaten by the serve that didn't fail him for over five hours.

You can't actually call Nadal the winner; he just about survived Verdasco's grand assault. Isn't it a surprise that at the end of it all the world no 1 had won just one point more (193 to Verdasco's 192) than his compatriot - the single point that gave him the match?

This one, for me, is there right at the top as one of the best matches I have ever watched, along with the 2008 epic Wimbledon final between Nadal and Federer. Watch these highlights to see for yourselves.