Federer, who missed the Rio Olympics and U.S. Open last year while he recovered, outlasted Rafa Nadal in five sets on Sunday to clinch his 18th grand slam title at Melbourne Park, four and half years after his last. "It was about staying calm and believing the work's paying off and that the variety I have in my game maybe allows me to maybe sneak in one or a couple." Federer said his belief was also based on the fact that until his injury, he was still competing well, reaching two grand slam finals in 2015 and two semi-finals in 2016. "If you look back at my results, in 2016 and especially in 2015, I think I played some really good tennis and some good attacking tennis," he said. With Murray and Djokovic both going out before the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park, Federer took his chance, beating Kei Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka and then Nadal.

Source: The Star January 30, 2017 05:37 UTC