Super Sunday got off to a great start this morning when Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in five sets to win the Australian Open. Unfortunately, since the match started at 3:30AM, almost everyone in the U.S. probably missed it. Actually, the time probably didn’t matter since tennis hasn’t been a popular spectator sport in this country since John McEnroe was in his prime and that is a shame because there is no better rivalry in sports right now than Federer-Nadal.

Roger Federer stands one Grand Slam win away from tying Pete Sampras’ record of 14, but he might not ever get there because he has a younger and better rival in Rafael Nadal. Nadal is the first player since Bjorn Borg to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year and by winning the Australian Open today, he now holds three of the four major titles. Every great player needs a rival to push them even further and Nadal and Federer are the perfect combination.

It’s not only the fact that they meet so often in the biggest tournaments, it’s the quality of the matches they play. Last year at Wimbledon they played what may have been the greatest tennis match ever. Today wasn’t far behind as they battled each other for over four hours. Afterwards, Roger Federer was inconsolable in defeat.

If you aren’t a tennis fan, but you like sports watch the next time these two play. Rivalries like this one are not to be missed.