Nadal into final after five-hour marathon

RAFAEL NADAL will face Roger Federer in the Australian Open men’s final — but it needed a mammoth effort from the world number one to get there.

The top seed took a record five hours and 14 minutes — the longest men’s match in history at the Australian Open — to get past fellow Spaniard and left-hander Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 in an enthralling battle on Rod Laver Arena.

Federer should be thanking Verdasco for making Nadal work so hard for his win in a match that had everything — blistering ground strokes, delicate drop shots, smashes, some truly bullet-like serving, and even the odd volley.