BY ANTHONY SUNTAY

I’M man enough to admit when I am wrong. And I was proven wrong the other day when Roger Federer, who I picked to win the Australian Open title, was defeated by Rafael Nadal in five thrilling sets, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2, in almost four-and-a-half hours of scintillating tennis.

Federer was chasing Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam titles with the win, but he ended up losing for the fifth straight time, and it brought their career Grand Slam meetings to 6-2 in the Spaniard’s favor.

Everyone, including myself, for years christened the cool Swiss as the greatest player ever. It was a foregone conclusion that he would eventually have the most number of Grand Slam titles, but when you look at Nadal, who already has six at his young age of 22, you start to stop and think.

We have been blessed in our lifetime to watch Sampras, and then Federer, and now Nadal. Players like these come only every so often, but we are lucky to have three. But back to the final, what was so surprising to me was seeing Federer look so ordinary again.

After the way he demolished Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Roddick heading into the finals, I genuinely thought he was over his struggles of early 2008.

But it seems like Nadal is in Federer’s head. I have never seen him look so nervous for a match and in so many instances during the game, he seemed uneasy.

But this was so unlike Federer, who enters every contest with extreme confidence and usually bowls over his opponents.

He even double-faulted to give away a set! That’s unheard of in Federer’s book.

Federer was so distraught with his loss that he broke down in tears after the match, which only highlighted the emotions going through him at that time.

What was even more amazing, as far as I was concerned, was the energy that Nadal displayed. After his grueling five-set win over countryman Fernando Verdasco, which took over five hours, I didn’t think he would have too much left in his tank.

In fact, he called in a trainer in the third set and I thought it was downhill from there on.

But he somehow found his second wind and it turned out to be an ever better performance than his Wimbledon triumph last year.

Their matches have turned out to be all-time classics, but some argue that it is fantastic tennis, but the results are lopsided, with Nadal owning a 13-6 record.

Federer is still a great player, definitely one of the best of all time, but he can’t seem to shake off Nadal’s imposing presence.

If Nadal stays healthy, his physical brand of play is already taking a toll on his body, especially his knees, he could be the best ever. Check that.

He will be the best we’ve ever seen.

I’d like to thank Prudz and my other friends at Mazda for letting me try the Mazda MX-5! That was my type of dream car when I was still a bachelor. It was a great experience!

Listen to Real Sports later today at 2:15 p.m. on Wave 89.1!

Have a great weekend! God Bless! E-mail me at realsports891@yahoo.com