Over more than four hours, long into the Melbourne night on Sunday, we bore witness to yet another chapter in the epic novel of the Nadal-Federer rivalry which has gripped men's tennis since the southpaw Spaniard burst onto the scene as a fifteen-year-old back in 2002. For a player once viewed as a one-trick pony, a player fit for the clay of Roland Garros but little else, the past twelve months have served as the chrysalis by which Nadal has spread his wings and begun to harness his full potential. For Federer, whose quest to best Pete Sampras' ATP record of fourteen Grand Slam titles, it has appeared for a year now as though the Swiss dynamo is in danger of being rendered obsolete by the crop of new young stars trampling up the ranks. The shift of power which has steadily occurred seems to be nearing completion...

Nadal now looks poised to be the one who challenges both Federer and Sampras for the all-time Grand Slam record. Nadal now has six Slams in his pocket, all at the tender age of twenty-two; at this same point in his life and career, Federer had but one -- his 2003 Wimbledon victory over Mark Philippoussis. Sampras, for further comparison, had taken only two trophies by twenty-two: the 1990 U.S. Open and the 1993 Wimbledon crowns. Nadal has shown a poise well beyond his years, and a game which continues to improve with every outing. 

Consecutive grinding five-set matches could not keep the man from Mallorca from winning his first hard-court Grand Slam. With that monkey off his back, now Nadal can concentrate on the heart of his calendar. Coming up next on the calendar is the event which has long proven his palace of glories, the French Open. The champion four years running, Nadal looks unstoppable on the red clay. He has already equalled Bjorn Borg with four straight; next he can set his sights on the all-time consecutive French Open titles streak, set by Australian Ken Rosewall with seven from 1960-66. The kid has won all twenty-eight matches he has ever contested at the French... and who amongst the men's side is really going to challenge his sustained record of dominance?

Looking forward beyond Paris, not even Wimbledon can be considered a sure thing for Federer anymore. What once was the setting of his greatest triumphs became the house of his unrest last summer, when Nadal flipped the final result of 2007 to claim his first Grand Slam on a surface other than clay. Federer, who had before last year's final taken five consecutive Wimbledon titles, no longer has the monopoly he once enjoyed on the lawn. Nadal's game has matured significantly; he has found a patience for the grass of the All-England Club which must make Federer sleep uneasy in the nights leading up to the tournament. No longer can Roger count on the grass as his equalizer, his ace in the hole...

Which means, heading toward Labor Day, we could be faced with a rare opportunity which comes to tennis but once or twice a generation:

Don Budge in 1938... Maureen Connolly in 1953... Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969... Margaret Court in 1970... Steffi Graf in 1988...

Rafael Nadal in 2009?

Only five players in all of the long history of tennis have managed to complete the calendar-year Grand Slam. It will still prove challenging for Nadal to conquer the faster hard-court surfaces at Flushing Meadows. The adaptability of this ever-evolving Spanish salamander, however, makes dreaming of another calendar Slam possible. Nadal proved in the heat of Melbourne that he will not wilt when the pressure is highest. His game has shown amazing depth beyond his twenty-two years. Now proving to be equally deadly to opponents whether it be clay, grass or hard-court beneath his Nikes, Nadal has a legitimate shot at doing what Sampras and Federer have never been able to do...

He's already laid claim to one honor neither Pete nor Roger ever earned -- he is only the fourth male player in history (the others being Mats Wilander, Andre Aggasi and Jimmy Connors) to win Grand Slams on three different playing surfaces. Which makes Nadal's achievements all the more astounding. Including his Olympic crown of last year, he has taken four of the past five biggest tournaments on the tennis calendar on, respectively, clay, grass, and twice on hard-court surfaces. For the past five months and into the forseeable future, he is the new king of the ATP rankings. But there is a greatness still out on the horizon yet to be discovered, something that can only serve to shake the confidence of Rafa's competitors.

Most of the pundits have wanted to declare the Nadal-Federer rivalry the greatest in sports... which it presently is. However, a few more victories in the southpaw's favor against his greatest foe and this rivalry could devolve into a lopsided farce. Already having gone only 6-13 lifetime against Nadal, Federer could soon be the Raymond Poulidor of tennis. While Federer will never be mistaken for Poulidor -- who despite being one of the best cyclists of his generation never managed to win the Tour de France, bested annually first by Jacques Anquetil and later by Eddy Merckx on his bicycle -- he is on the verge of taking on the life of the perpetual second-best...