page_title: 2017 Rafael Nadal tennis season
section_title: Australian Open
hierarchical_section_title: 2017 Rafael Nadal tennis season / Year summary / Early hard court season / Australian Open
caption_attribution_description: Australian Open 2017 Final - Roger Federer vs Rafa Nadel
context_page_description: The 2017 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 3 January 2017, with the start of the Brisbane International, and ended on 13 November 2017, with a loss in the round robin of the ATP Finals and subsequent withdrawal from the tournament.
  The season marked a resurgence for Nadal after an injury shortened 2016 season. Nadal won two grand slams, six titles and ended the year as world number one, the first time since 2013.
context_section_description: Nadal was seeded ninth in the first major of the year, the Australian Open. After two relatively easy rounds against Florian Mayer, and former finalist Marcos Baghdatis, he faced 19-year-old Alexander Zverev in the third round. He prevailed in a five-set match, twice coming back from one set down, after the youngster began suffering cramps in the final set. He defeated the French number one, and world number nine Gaël Monfils in four sets in the fourth round to reach his first quarterfinal since the 2015 French Open. In a rematch against Raonic, he won in straight sets. In the semifinal, he defeated rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov in a five-set match that lasted just under five hours to reach his first major final since the 2014 French Open. The Australian Open final was the 35th meeting between him and former world number one and long-time rival Roger Federer. Due to their storied rivalry, the advancing age of both players in their respective careers, critical speculation of this being their last Grand Slam finals contest against one another, and the potential tennis history made from either victory and subsequent implications on their respective legacies, the match, referred by the moniker 'Fedal XXXV', was one of the most highly anticipated finals in not only the tournament's history but also all tennis history. The match went to five sets, but despite leading by a break in the final set, Nadal lost the match to Federer (who won his record-extending 18th major title) losing 5 games in a row.
caption: The 2017 Australian Open men's final
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