Highly regarded as one of the greatest matches in tennis history, it was contested between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, ranked 17th and 9th in the world respectively.

Federer, in particular, had not played a tournament since the 2016 Wimbledon semi-final, having aggravated his surgically repaired knee to the extent that he called off the rest of his 2016 season, including missing out the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio that he was keen to compete in for the singles gold medal that eluded him and also playing the highly anticipated mixed doubles pairing with compatriot and fellow tennis great, Martina Hingis.

Before this tournament, Nadal had reached the quarter-finals of the 2017 Brisbane International, losing to Milos Raonic, while Federer had played in the 2017 Hopman Cup in singles and mixed round robins with Belinda Bencic, winning two and losing one match in both singles and mixed doubles (the Swiss team did not qualify for the final).

Federer's entry in this tournament already drew substantial and critical media attention due to his 6-month layoff from his knee injury, his continued years-long quest for his 18th singles major, and his consistent form and reflected appearances in two semi-finals and two finals in four previous Grand Slam tournaments despite his advancing age.

The final between Federer and Nadal further developed from that attention and the match was immediately regarded by fans, fellow tennis contemporaries, pundits and analysts, and the media as a 'dream final' and, more importantly, a match of historical significance for both players, as agreed by many past legends such as Andy Roddick and Pam Shriver as well as renowned tennis analyst Mary Carillo.

[9] Due to their respective ages of 35 and 30, the increasing number of years since their last respective Grand Slam title wins, and the perceived declines from their prime years which saw some critics voicing opinions that neither player would ever win a singles major again, it was critically speculated that this tournament final may mark the last time that Federer and Nadal would meet and contest each other in a Grand Slam final.

Furthermore, many other pundits and analysts also agreed that this match could very well prove who between Federer and Nadal would be popularly and critically viewed as the "greatest tennis player of all time".

Numerous tennis players and legends voiced their opinions on the match and who would win, including Australian Open promotional interviews with Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle, John McEnroe, Lindsay Davenport, and Rod Laver, in addition to other media interviews with John Newcombe, Martina Navratilova, Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter, Michael Chang, Mary Joe Fernández, and Andy Roddick.

After holding his serve to take the lead 4–3, Federer went on to break Nadal's next service game, which included a 26-shot rally (the longest in the match) at deuce that featured incredible shots from both players that drew a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted nearly a full minute.

The most striking difference between this match and past Fedal Slam finals is that Federer hit more than double the number of winners than Nadal, 73 to 35.

Most importantly, Federer's victory marked the culmination of his years-long quest since his 2012 Wimbledon win for his 18th Grand Slam singles title, which previously saw three finals appearances and losses all to then-reigning No.

Considered altogether along with his return from his six-month injury layoff, his 2017 Australian Open run seeing three five-set match wins over the top ten players, and his Grand Slam match history of losses against Nadal, Federer's victory from being down 1–3 in the final set against Nadal is considered by some to be the biggest win in his career.

Federer, however, won all four matches between the two during the season, including a fourth-round encounter at Indian Wells and two further finals at the Masters 1000 series events in Miami and Shanghai.

[15] In Australia, the free-to-air television broadcast on the Seven Network was the highest-rating Australian Open Men's Singles Final in more than a decade, with a combined 2.668 million viewers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide & Perth.

[16] In the United States, ESPN said the men’s final drew a record audience since it moved to an overnight time slot in 2005.

Starting at 3:30 AM ET Sunday, the five-set match posted a 0.9 overnight rating (~1.05 million households), up 80% from the 2016 final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

[17] Joining the social media congratulations and praise from fans, commentators, fellow contemporaries and tennis legends such as Billie Jean King who praised Federer as the greatest of all time,[18] were other sport stars and legends outside of tennis such as Mesut Özil, Ian Thorpe, Alex Morgan, Sachin Tendulkar, Pau Gasol, Luís Figo, Franco Baresi, Karrie Webb, Lin Dan, and Usain Bolt.

that was defending, that was scrapping, was coming up with shots on the run' that, coupled with his serve, saw him close the gap between himself and Nadal and then go on to win the deciding set of the match.

John McEnroe remarked that Nadal's long semi-final and the one day of difference of rest between him and Federer perhaps made themselves felt in the latter stages of the match.

Due to the form shown by both players, both McEnroe brothers say that Federer and Nadal could very well win at their respective most successful Slams of Wimbledon and the French Open ahead.

This prediction proved out to be correct, as later in the year Nadal and Federer, won French Open and Wimbledon respectively, both without dropping a set.