Top 10 Stories from the 2017 Australian Open

7. Rafael Nadal vs. Grigor Dmitrov

By the time Rafael Nadal took to the court to play a semifinal against Grigor Dmitrov, he was the last piece missing from a pair of dream singles finals, one an all-Williams one, the other him versus Federer. But that he’d made it that far was in itself remarkable. The previous year he’d had trouble with an injured wrist and disappointing results. He’d had to battle past multiple top players, including number three seed Milos Raonic, and play one five-setter. Dmitrov’s path had been slightly easier, but his second slam semifinals also spoke as a return to form; he was still recovering from a year and a half slump he’d been in.

The first set was very good tennis from both players, though better from Nadal, who took it. In the second they both wavered at times, but Dmitrov stepped up to even the match. Unrattled by a lengthy pause so an audience member could get medical treatment, both fought hard to split a pair of tiebreak sets. By then they’d been on court for nearly four hours, and yet in the fifth set they kept the quality of their games up, and the winner uncertain. When Nadal broke for 5-4, the crowd gave them a standing ovation even before he served it out, with Dmitrov gamely battling to the end.

Dmitrov said afterwards he saw only positives in how he played. He’ll certain win plenty of matches if he plays them like that. Meanwhile, Nadal was off to a final once thought unlikely.

Of course, both his and Federer making it there, and Dmitrov’s for that matter, might have been helped a bit by an early pair of upsets…