Roger Federer Reflects On Beating Rafael Nadal In 'Perfect' Australian Open Performance

Roger Federer reflected on what he calls a "perfect" 25 minutes that saw him turn the tide against Rafael Nadal in their 2017 Australian Open final.

Federer and Nadal both returned from long injury layoffs at the time as they upset the odds and reached the final at Melbourne Park. What followed was a turning back of the clock as the duo served up a tennis classic that went all five sets.

It looked like the title would be heading Nadal's way however, especially as he won the fourth set and took a 3-1 lead in the fifth and final set. Federer had notably also taken a medical timeout after the fourth set leading many to believe there was a momentum shift.

However, Federer rallied as the 37-year-old would go on to win the next five games to eventually take the fifth set and win the Australian Open in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

"I could end up being disappointed and sad about being down in the score or you take it as a massive challenge," Federer recently said in an interview. "But I stayed positive, I believed I could have turned around the match and I played probably the most perfect 25 minutes of my life."

It was not only Federer's 18th Grand Slam win but his first since 2012 after a near-five-year drought.

In that period, Novak Djokovic dominated the game with notable victories over Federer in multiple Grand Slam finals while Rafael Nadal was still winning major titles, at least until 2014.

"In those four or five years that I didn't win a Grand Slam anymore," Federer added. "I had some good moments like winning Davis Cup, finals in Grand Slams, but I did not come through because Novak (Djokovic) was so good, Rafa (Nadal) was good on clay and something in my game was missing."

Since then, of course, the Swiss legend would go on to win another pair of Grand Slam titles to take his tally to 20 as well as become the oldest No. 1 in tennis history before dropping to second this year.

However, he has seen his performances dwindle in the last few months with six defeats in his last seven tournaments, including a shock quarterfinal loss to Kevin Anderson at Wimbledon.

It has coincided with Djokovic's own career resurgence as the Serbian defeated Federer in the Cincinnati Open final in between his Wimbledon and US Open triumphs that took him to the No. 3 spot in the rankings.

Djokovic (6,445 points) is currently creeping up on Federer (6,900 points) in the rankings and could overtake both him and current No. 1 Nadal (8,760 points) by the end of the year.

Nadal will miss the Shanghai Masters that commences next week from Oct 8 to 14, but both Djokovic and Federer will be taking part, with the latter defending 1,000 points following his win over Nadal last year.