Serena Williams edged past Steffi Graf in the record books to become the Open era's most prolific women's Grand Slam singles winner as she claimed her 23rd major title by beating sister Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in Saturday's 2017 Australian Open final.
She is now just one back from Margaret Court, who won 24 Grand Slam singles titles in her career, and returned to world No. 1 after her triumph in Melbourne.
Two other record-breakers will go head-to-head in Sunday's men's final with Roger Federer aiming to win his 18th Grand Slam against Rafael Nadal—who can move ahead of Pete Sampras if he is victorious.
Venus Unable to Upset Serena
A meeting of the Williams sisters in the 2017 Australian Open final seemed unlikely ahead of the tournament as Venus had not gotten past the semi-finals at a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2009.
However, the 36-year-old upset the odds to face up to her sister, a year her junior, in Saturday's showpiece.
Early nerves were obvious on both sides of the net in Rod Laver Arena as the pair exchanged two breaks of serve each for 2-2.
Per ESPNW, Serena showed early signs of frustration:
However, Serena found her groove eventually and broke for 4-3 following a fine drop volley and big forehand.
She held for 5-3 and then took the first set and continued to carve out chances on Venus' serve early in the second.
Serena inevitably broke for 4-3, and there was nothing Venus could do to stop her sister from sealing the victory, per the Australian Open:
Serena was simply too good in the end and will again likely be the favourite to win a 24th Grand Slam when the French Open rolls around in May.
Federer to Beat Nadal
In 34 career meetings between Nadal and Federer, the 30-year-old Spaniard holds a significant edge having won 23 of them.
Indeed, Nadal leads Federer, 35, in a number of key head-to-head stats, per The Telegraph:
However, Swiss legend Federer looks to be in the best position to prevail in Sunday's final.
Nadal and Federer are not the same players they were in their heyday, when they dominated men's tennis in the late 2000s, meeting in seven Grand Slam finals between 2006 and 2009.
They have both dropped down the world rankings significantly, Nadal to No. 9 and Federer to No. 17 after a recent long-term injury.
Based purely on their form over the last two weeks, though, Federer should have the edge and go on to win the title.
Per BBC Sport's Russell Fuller, he was truly brilliant in beating world No. 10 Tomas Berdych in 90 minutes in the third round, and he has also seen off No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori and No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka on his way to the final:
He did need five sets to see off Wawrinka in the semi-finals, but he was only on court for just over three hours and has had an extra day's rest.
The Spaniard was also taken to five sets in his last-four clash with Grigor Dimitrov in a match that lasted almost five hours, and the extra on-court time for Nadal should play in Federer's favour.
Federer will not win in straight sets; Nadal has too much quality and fight to be turned over easily.
But given Nadal's likely fatigue, Federer should win the opening set, and that will set him up to earn victory in four.