Roger Federer’s former coach Ivan Ljubicic revealed his favorite memory of coaching the Swiss when his pupil bested Rafael Nadal in the summit clash of the 2017 Australian Open. Federer was making a return to the tour after undergoing the knife and he defeated his arch-rival in a thrilling five-set contest.

Federer registered a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win against the Spaniard in that epic final of the Melbourne Major. The Swiss Maestro had entered the tournament as seed number 17 but he was able to go all the way.

“My, by far, favourite memory is 2017 as a coach of Roger and that epic final against Rafa. It was something special. It was crazy. I mean, I still have chills. Not just that match, but the whole Australian Open that year was a dream,” Ljubicic said on the Sit-Down Podcast.

“We kind of thought, you know, if he catches fire, and if he gets going, who knows? Roger can win any tournament he plays. But to actually see it happening, especially against Rafa in the final in the five-setter epic match, it was very, very special,” he added.

The former Croatian player recalled that Rafael Nadal was also making a comeback after recuperating from an injury. Ljubicic said the veteran duo were at the peak of their powers at that time and didn’t give an inch to each other.

“The thing that I liked about that final was that … it was the biggest match in history, right? There were two guys who had the most (Major) titles in history, and they’re going to play each other in the final. Rafa also was coming back from the injury. Roger as well. They were embracing it. They really said: ‘Yes, that’s true. Let’s see who’s going to get this one’. So it was great,” Ljubicic concluded.

While Federer retired from the sport with 20 Grand Slam titles after the 2022 Laver Cup, Nadal called it a day after winning 22 Majors.