MEN'S RANKINGS

1. (1) Rafael Nadal (Spain) 14260 points

2. (2) Roger Federer (Switzerland) 11000

3. (3) Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 9010

4. (4) Andy Murray (Britain) 7360

5. (5) Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 5030

6. (6) Andy Roddick (U.S.) 4510

7. (7) Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) 4350

8. (8) Gilles Simon (France) 4170

9. (9) Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 3480

10. (10) David Nalbandian (Argentina) 3395

11. (11) James Blake (U.S) 3230

12. (12) Gael Monfils (France) 3190

13. (14) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 3160

14. (13) David Ferrer (Spain) 2980

15. (18) Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 2770

16. (15) Robin Soderling (Sweden) 2695

17. (16) Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 2690

18. (17) Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 2620

19. (19) Tommy Robredo (Spain) 2510

20. (22) Marin Cilic (Croatia) 2500

REUTERS

HE SHOUDA BEEN THE CHAMP

Rafael Nadal held off Roger Federer in another five-set Grand Slam final, keeping Pete Sampras' record of 14 major titles intact for now.

Nadal became the first Spanish man to win the Australian Open, beating Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 in a momentum-swinging, 4-hour, 22-minute final that finished just after midnight on Sunday.

Federer, trying to equal Sampras' record, sobbed at the trophy presentation.

AP

ARTHUR'S WONDERFUL ADVENTURE IN OZ

Arthur Searles, a coach at Kew Gardens, did what we only dream of doing:

Travel to Oz for the Open.

This picture shows Arthur giving some sage advice to another pilgrim.

Straighten him out, Arthur!

MATCH STATS

Match statistics from SpaniardRafa Nadal's 7-5 3-6 7-6 3-6 6-2 victory over Switzerland'sRoger Federer in the men's singles final at the Australian Openon Sunday.

                           Nadal             Federer
 1st serve percentage          64                 52
 Aces                           4                 11
 Double faults                  4                  6
 Winning % on 1st serve     74 of 112 - 66    66 of 90 -  73
 Winning % on 2nd serve     30 of 63 -  48    37 of 82 -  45
 Winners (including service)   50                 71
 Unforced errors               41                 64
 Break point conversions     7 of 16 -  44%     6 of 19 -  32%
 Net approaches             15 of 26 -  58%    43 of 60 -  72%
 Total points won             173                174
 Match duration              four hours 23 minutes

ALMOST

Fernando Verdasco was kicking himself after narrowly missing his chance to beat fellow Spaniard Rafa Nadal in an epic five-set semi-final at the Australian Open in the early hours of Saturday.

After around five hours of slugging it out with the world number one, Verdasco had a sniff of upsetting Nadal, who was down 15-30 while serving at 4-4 in the deciding set on Rod Laver Arena.

The ultra aggressive Verdasco, who used his booming forehand to help peel off an eye-watering 95 winners, lined up another to take two break points with the possibility of serving for the match.

Instead, his forehand found the net, Nadal held serve then broke Verdasco to win the longest match ever at the Australian Open and set up a final against Roger Federer on Sunday.

Nadal now has a career 7-0 record against Verdasco.

The energy-sapping five hour 14 minute match beat the previous record held by Boris Becker and Omar Camporese since 1991 by three minutes.