Rafael Nadal
Spain's Rafael Nadal falls onto the court as he celebrates winning his Men's singles semifinal match against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov at the Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 27 2017. Reuters

Rafael Nadal reached his first Grand Slam final in almost three years Friday after beating Grigor Dimitrov in an epic semifinal at the Australian Open. Nadal outlasted his younger opponent over five sets to win 6-3 5-7 7-6(4) 6-7(4) 6-4 in four minutes shy of five hours. In the final, the 30-year-old will face a rematch with his greatest rival, Roger Federer.

Like Federer, Nadal had to go the distance to set up what will be the first Grand Slam final between the pair in almost six years. And the Spaniard was pushed all the way by the 25-year-old Dimitrov, who has long been compared to the great Swiss and has even carried the nickname “Baby Fed.”

Dimitrov played the match of his life, displaying both the mental and physical fortitude that has so often been lacking from the Bulgarian as he has failed to live up to his sizable potential. When the pair last met at a Grand Slam, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open three years ago, Dimitrov hung with Nadal for three sets before fading badly in the fourth.

This time, though, after Nadal again went up 2-1 in sets, Dimitrov would not lie down. It took all of Nadal’s familiar resolve to get the job done in the fifth set, breaking in the ninth game and serving out the win on his third match point. It was a win made all the sweeter by the fact that Nadal had spent much of the second half of last year on the sidelines with a wrist injury, just the latest in a litany of injury woes since his last Grand Slam final.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HE&#39;S DONE IT! <br><br>Rafael <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nadal?src=hash">#Nadal</a> is through to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AusOpen?src=hash">#AusOpen</a> final against Roger <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Federer?src=hash">#Federer</a>! <a href="https://t.co/ZnIqKdO5ei">pic.twitter.com/ZnIqKdO5ei</a></p>&mdash; #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) <a href="https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/824976912699174914">January 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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“Difficult to describe the emotions,” Nadal said in an on-court interview following the win. “It was a great match. I feel very happy to be part of it. I enjoyed it a lot. To qualify for the final in a match like this means a lot to me.”

He continued: “I worked a lot during the month and a half at home. I never ever dreamed to be back in the final of the Australian Open in the second tournament of the year after a lot of months without competing, but here I am, I feel lucky and very, very happy.”

Rafael Nadal vs Grigor Dimitrov - Tennis 2017...by jason-pitt1

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