It’s been lonely in the clubhouse.

For almost 30 years, golfing great Jack Nicklaus has been waiting for someone to join him. He probably thought Tiger Woods would be the first to sit down for a drink. But as fate would have it, it has taken a legend from another sport to equal his record of 18 major titles. Roger Federer, 35, joined the club of two by winning the Australian Open last Sunday, more than four years after winning his 17^th at Wimbledon in 2012.

But that was a relative sprint. Nicklaus, who like Federer is the second oldest major winner in the modern era, won his 17^th major at age 40 at the 1980 PGA Championship and his 18^th at the ’86 Masters as a 46-year-old.

Nicklaus has met Federer twice before, the first meeting coming at the All England Club during Federer’s 2012 title run. He’s also a huge tennis fan, with three grass courts at his North Palm Beach home. He plays regularly and some years can be spotted cheering on friends Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan at the Delray Beach Open.

Nicklaus spoke with ATPWorldTour.com just hours after Federer joined him in the exclusive ‘Club 18’.

The US is a tough time zone to be in for the Australian Open. Did you watch the final live?
I saw the first four sets and unfortunately I got called away for a business call, so I missed the last set. I’m going to watch it the next time they replay it. When I was done I got to see the speeches afterwards, which were very nice.

Were you happy to see Roger take the title and break his Grand Slam drought?
I admire both men. I think Rafa is a terrific athlete and a great competitor. It was a shame that either one of them had to lose. I’ve been a fan of Roger’s for many years and I’ve always enjoyed the way he’s handled himself, the way he’s played the game and his competitive drive. He’s represented his sport fantastically.

How did you rate the final? Was it one of the best matches in the Roger-Rafa rivalry?
I’m not an expert tennis player so for me to judge… I thought it was an awfully good match. I’ve seen the matches before. Rafa’s had the better of [the rivalry]. So it’s great to see Roger come back and do this. Any time you get those two together, it’s going to be something special.

Having unexpectedly won your 18^th major at 46, you must have a better idea than most what this title means to Roger?
Most of the first 17 I won I expected to win if I worked hard and put myself in that position. I felt like I was the best player on the golf course and that’s what I was there for. I’m sure Roger in his first 17 felt much the same way.

Then you get to a point in your career where you know that you may be beyond your peak but you get yourself to a position where you get a chance to do it again and your body and your mind remember how to do it. That’s what happened to me in ’86. I don’t think Roger had any expectations going into this event, having six months off. And all of a sudden he got to the semi-finals and finals and he said, ‘Hey, I remember how to play this game and I’m going to play it’.

After you won your 18^th did you feel that was a bonus and that you were unlikely to win any more? Do you think Roger can win a 19^th?
I think he can get to 19. I don’t think there’s any question about it. He’s had a hard time the last few years despite playing really well. He made finals on several occasions but just didn’t quite get there.

There’s a difference between 35 and 46. When you’re 35 you have a darn good chance of winning again. I’ll be watching and hoping he does win again. But if he doesn’t, he certainly has this one. Just like I competed again (without winning a major) but I had my ’86 Masters.

What are the challenges of competing at the highest level in the twilight of your career?
A lot of it is desire and what you really want to do. At the end of my career I was more interested in watching my kids compete in high school athletics and even some college athletics. All five of my kids went to college on a D1 scholarship, which is pretty unusual.

Roger’s kids aren’t at that age yet so he won’t have that. I’m sure he’s got other things he’s doing in life, but he’s still young enough that his concentration towards his sport will remain there for a few more years.

How many times have you met Roger?
We have met a couple of times at Wimbledon. The first was five years ago in 2012. [My wife] Barbara and I saw him again last year after the quarter-finals. On the two occasions I’ve seen Roger I’ve been very impressed with his demeanour. He looks you in the eye; he’s a nice young man. He was as I expected him to be.

You also have a connection with the Williams sisters and the Bryan brothers?
The Williams sisters have come over and practised at my house, but every time they have been here I have not been here. I met them one time last year. I’m a fan. What talent and what a family.

Mike has not been here but Bob has been here on several occasions. Every time he’s played here he’s been my partner and I liked that very much. He’s become a good friend and we’re doing some things for charity; an event we’re going to do this fall with golf and tennis together. Both Bob and Mike will participate.

How much do you enjoy tennis?
I Iove tennis. I am not a good player; I’m a decent tennis player. My dad introduced me to tennis as a kid. He was the city tennis champion in Columbus, where he was growing up. He was a very good athlete who played football, basketball and baseball at Ohio State. He was a pretty good golfer. He introduced me to all sports, including tennis. He taught me just enough to allow me to understand the game.

I didn’t really start playing tennis till after 30. I enjoy going to some of the tournaments [including nearby Delray Beach]. I have three grass courts here at the house. The pros in the area teach during the week and come here during the weekend. So we have some good tennis and good fun. I love the game. Anything I can do to promote the game of tennis and promote the game of golf is what I want to be part of.

Roger Federer is back in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings after winning his 18th Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open.

After missing the last six months of the 2016 ATP World Tour season to rehab his knee following arthroscopic surgery in February, the 35-year-old Swiss started the new year at No. 17, his lowest standing since May 2001. But his stunning triumph at Melbourne Park, where he beat Rafael Nadal in a five-set finale, saw Federer jump seven places to re-join the game’s elite.

“I think this one will take more time to sink in,” admitted Federer, who had waited almost five years to taste Grand Slam glory against after his 2012 Wimbledon victory. “When I go back to Switzerland, I’ll think, ‘Wow’.

“The magnitude of this match is going to feel different. I can’t compare this one to any other one except for maybe the French Open [at Roland Garros] in 2009. I waited for the French Open, I tried, I fought. I tried again and failed. Eventually I made it. This feels similar.” 

View Full Emirates ATP Rankings

The 2017 Australian Open turned out to be a Grand Slam of fairy tales. Federer facing his great rival Nadal across the net was nothing short of remarkable, considering the way 2016 ended for Nadal, nursing a wrist injury and finishing his season early in October. The Spaniard’s run in Melbourne sees him return to No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

But no-one lit up Melbourne Park more than Mischa Zverev. At 29-years-old, the German stunned World No. 1 Andy Murray to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final (l. to Federer) and captured the hearts of the Australian public, who learned that just two years ago Zverev had been ranked outside the Top 1000. It has been a long road back for Zverev, who almost quit playing as injuries took hold. But he is now at a career-high No. 35 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, eclipsing his previous career-high of eight years ago by 10 spots.

“There’s a lot of positive things I can take with me, hopefully take with me through the whole season, use the confidence to do well in many more tournaments to come,” said Zverev.

“Half a year ago I was hoping I could maybe be in the Top 100. Now I’m ranked a lot higher. So you never know where the game’s going to take you. If I stay healthy, then a lot of things are possible this year.”

There is also a career-high position for Great Britain’s Daniel Evans, who backed up his Sydney runner-up finish by reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open, taking out Marin Cilic and Bernard Tomic before falling to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The 26 year old rose six spots to break into the Top 50 at World No. 45.

Three other notable leaps saw former World No. 18 Andreas Seppi rewarded for his fourth-round performance by rising 21 spots to No. 68; Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Denis Istomin, surged up 37 spots to re-join the Top 100 at No. 80; meanwhile #NextGenATP star rose 32 places to No. 73 after winning his eighth ATP Challenger Tour title last week in Maui (d. Daniel).

Roger Federer stayed up all night and witnessed the sunrise over Melbourne following his Australian Open victory on Sunday, before walking into his hotel room with the trophy to the delighted faces of his four children.

The Swiss superstar, who had promised to “party like rock stars” after beating Rafael Nadal for his 18th Grand Slam championship crown, arrived bleary eyed and husky-voiced at the champions’ photo shoot at the elegant Carlton Gardens on Monday afternoon.

“We started late, or super early in the morning,” said Federer on Monday. “We made it home by sunrise, which was good. It was nice to see the sun rise over Melbourne, get into the room, so it was a long night but a lot of fun. Everyone was in such a good mood, it was a special day, a special couple of weeks and finished off in a great way, being silly and having a lot of fun. Forgetting about everything, all the pressure went away.”

Federer, who had experienced a six-month injury lay-off only to return at the Australian Open, admitted it was especially gratifying as it was his first major trophy since his second set of twins, Leo and Lenny, were born on 6 May 2014.

“This is my first Slam win with the boys, they weren’t born when I won in 2012, so that’s special for Mirka and myself that I was able to do it,” said Federer, who also has girl twins, Myla and Charlene (born 23 July 2009). “The girls were just super excited to see the trophy. They will probably forget one day what happened, but at the same time they were happy that I’m happy.

“I saw them this morning. As I walked in, they woke up. Bit of a weird moment but still so great because they were all in such a good mood as they woke up and I came in walking in with the trophy. It was an amazing half-hour right there.”

Today, Federer rose seven spots to No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He had dropped to No. 16 on 7 November 2016, falling out of Top 10 for the first time in 734 weeks (14+ years).

“I don’t know how much I slept, but you know I had to look at some highlights again to know how close the match was, and go through the emotions again,” said Federer. “What makes me most happy is when I see my friends and family so happy, my support team, everybody who was there.

“When I saw them celebrating again it really made it emotional when I heard people in Switzerland were following me and I saw people being really happy for me, that I won a slam again and particularly this one. It’s a bit of a fairytale to come back this way.”

A LOOK BACK

Sportsmaster Tennis Championship of Maui (Maui, Hawaii): Second seed and #NextGenATP star Hyeon Chung continued his recent ATP Challenger Tour dominance by picking up another title, rolling through fourth seed Taro Daniel of Japan 7-6(3), 6-1 in the championship match. The 20-year-old didn’t lose a set throughout the week and dropped an average of less than five games per match.

Chung now has eight Challenger titles and the win in Maui is his second on U.S. soil. He has now won at least one Challenger title for four straight years. He returns to the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings this week, sitting at No. 73. Chung also puts himself into contention to qualify for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

View Emirates ATP Race To Milan 

Open De Rennes (Rennes, France): Lucky Loser Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus completed a dream week with his second chance, defeating #NextGenATP star Andrey Rublev of Russia in the championship match, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-6(5).  Ignatik won five straight matches after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final round of qualifying, becoming the first Lucky Loser winner on the ATP Challenger Tour since October, when Norbert Gombos won in Brest, France. 

The Belarusian picked up his fourth career ATP Challenger Tour title and first in more than four years. He fired 27 aces in the final, the most in a Challenger final since Reilly Opelka hit 28 on his way to prevailing in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past November.

Despite the loss, 19-year-old Rublev has gone 8-2 in his two most recent Challenger events, having also finished runner-up this past November in Mouilleron Le Captif, France.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Ignatik: “Andrey has a really big future. Of course I’m happy that I won this week. That was unexpected after losing in qualies. Thanks also to the organisers and sponsors. This was one of the best tournaments I’ve played.

“I tried to play more focused in the second set and I was a little bit lucky in the third set. I feel good! I’m tired emotionally and it’s not easy to recover, but I’ll try to be ready for next week.”

Rublev: “Congratulations to Uladzimir. He had such a great week and match today. Thanks to the organisers and the public for supporting me all week long.”

“This result isn’t bad, but you always want more. I was surprised with the way I played a few points.”

Chung: “I am really happy to win my eighth ATP Challenger title this week in Maui. It is a beautiful place and I really enjoyed my time here.”

“It was a tough match and I struggled with the wind at the beginning but I was able to settle in half way through the first set. Taro is a tough opponent and I had to fight hard for every point.”

A LOOK AHEAD

There are three Challenger events on the calendar this week, with the $125,000 event in Dallas, Texas, taking top billing as it returns for the 19^th year. Americans hold the top two spots, with Texas native Ryan Harrison as the top seed and #NextGenATP star Taylor Fritz as the second seed. Other #NextGenATP stars in the draw include fourth seed Frances Tiafoe of the U.S., Opelka and Elias Ymer of Sweden.

The $75,000 tournament in Burnie, Australia, is back for the 14^th year. Go Soeda of Japan is the top seed and Jason Jung of Taipei is the second seed. Two #NextGen ATP stars are in the draw, sixth seed Noah Rubin of Russia and seventh seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.

Lastly, the $50,000 event in Quimper, France, returns for the seventh year. Two local favourites take the two top spot, with Adrian Mannarino as the top seed and Jeremy Chardy as the second seed. Seventh seed Rublev is the defending champion, while #NextGenATP star and local favourite Quentin Halys looks for his first title of 2017. Other notable names in the draw include former Top 10 player Jurgen Melzer and former Top 15 player Jerzy Janowicz.

View Draws & Watch Free Live Streams

ATP CHALLENGER TOUR ON TWITTER: The ATP Challenger Tour has launched a dedicated Twitter account for the latest news and information about players and events. Follow @ATPChallengerTour at twitter.com/ATPChallengerTour.

The analytics of Roger Federer’s dramatic victory at the Australian Open fly in the face of what we think matters most to succeed in our sport. Federer manufactured a stunning 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Rafael Nadal, despite having a losing record from the back of the court.

When you look at practice courts all over the world, the baseline is king. Federer won only 44.6 per cent (70/157) from the back of the court in the Melbourne final. But he thrived in the less popular front of the court, winning 73 per cent (29/40) at net.

Serve and volley is basically a forgotten tactic, but Federer won a substantial 77 per cent (10/13) to enjoy one of the sweetest Grand Slam titles of his career.

Nadal is widely acknowledged as far superior in longer rallies than pretty much every other player on tour, but Federer got the upper hand in the short, medium and long rallies against the Spaniard.

Rally Length Won / Lost

0-4 Shots Federer 95 / Nadal 89 (+6)

5-8 Shots Federer 37 / Nadal 34 (+3)

9+ Shots Federer 18 / Nadal 16 (+2)

The first four sets were a tantalising entree. The fifth set was the main meal and Federer was sitting at the head of the table.

Federer won 80 per cent (12/15) of first-serve points in the fifth set and a resounding 57 per cent (8/14) on second serve. He also made more returns – 82 per cent (31/38) – than he had during any other set in the match. When the ball needed to go in the court, that’s exactly what he made happen.

Federer didn’t back into the fifth set victory. He grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and willed it out of the balmy summer Melbourne evening.

Federer hit 23 winners in the deciding set, which was the most of any of the five sets played. What stood tall under the spotlight of potential Grand Slam glory was his backhand.

Federer had accumulated six backhand winners in the first four sets, but he crushed eight in the deciding fifth set. Everyone on the planet thought that this shot would capitulate against Nadal, who has broken it down in previous encounters better than anyone in the world.

It seemed a foregone conclusion that the Nadal forehand would own the Federer backhand. Someone simply forgot to tell the Swiss legend how the story used to end.

Federer also hit eight forehand winners in the deciding fifth set, adding to the 20 he had already struck in the first four sets.

Federer targeted Nadal’s backhand return in the deuce court, serving 27 first serves out wide and 20 down the middle. In the ad court, Federer went more with the centre serve, hitting 21 down the middle and 16 out wide to Nadal’s forehand.

Nadal’s slight edge came when Federer hit a second serve, with the Spaniard winning 59 per cent (20/34) of baseline points when Federer started the point with his second-serve delivery.

Federer also struggled from the back of the court against Nadal’s second serve, only winning 39 per cent (11/28) of baseline points when the Spaniard started the point with a second serve.

Our eyes want us to believe that Nadal runs around the back of the court far more than Federer, but their distance run in the final was almost identical. Federer averaged 11.14 metres per point to Nadal’s 11.44 metres. Federer ran a total of 3,218 metres to Nadal’s 3,306 metres. That equates to the Spaniard running just 88 metres more over the three hour and 38 minutes.

When Federer won the first point of his service game, he won all 14 of the games. When he lost the first point of his service game, he won just four of eight, which was similar to Nadal’s five of 10. It was these small margins on big points that contributed to the victory.

Federer was magnificent on all levels. He has now 18 Grand Slam titles. After not playing a tour-level match since Wimbledon, this is possibly the sweetest of them all.

Read More: Roger Revels In ‘Beautiful Moment’