Everyone loves Federer's backhand, his serve, his panache, but what about his mind? "We talk a lot about Federer the artist," Steve Tignor writes. "Federer the athlete and Federer the denier of Father Time, but behind them all is Federer the tactician."

Too bad it was Federer's old "crybaby" buddy Stan Wawrinka, a fellow Swiss, who had to suffer a loss in this year's semifinals for Roger to resume his rivalry with Rafa. Here's a photo from the days when Stan was a ruddy little kid and meathead Fed hadn't become best friends with Anna Wintour yet.

The Williams sisters have been playing each other in tournaments since the last century. The accolades are too many to count here, though here's a new one: "Serena has been the most prolific Grand Slam winner after age 30 in tennis history."

Nineteen years after their first Grand Slam duel in Australia, here's Venus celebrating about reaching the final match:

To look back, here's the Times reporting on their first Australia match, in 1998:

Today, there were fears that the rank newcomer, 16-year-old Serena, might wreak havoc on the already complicated family pecking order and defeat 17-year-old, 16th-ranked Venus — making good on the prediction by their father, Richard, that the littlest Williams was destined to be the greater champion of the two.

But after a heated beginning in which neither sister gave ground, Serena deferred to her elder and allowed Venus Williams, who made her own Grand Slam breakthrough when she reached the final of the United States Open last summer, to advance into the third round of this one with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 victory.

For those of us who believe the Williams sisters are among America's best atheletes of all time, and Serena's possibly the GOAT, here's S.L. Price from 2015, and a social-media heavy "Why Serena Williams is the best athelete of all time", Bill Simmons on the majesty of Serena and the J.J. Sullivan piece on the sisters, and we could go on. Though one rule to live by?

In a time of political darkness, how about some nostalgia for the weekend? On Saturday, the Williams sisters will duel in Australia for the first time in a final match since Wimbledon, 2009, and then Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will play for the men's trophy on Sunday, reviving the renaissance in their first Grand Slam final since the 2011 French Open.

All four players are over 30, all have dealt with injury and sickness, none had an easy path this year in Melbourne (well, maybe Serena, a little) to reach the final, and all seem to be treating it the way the fans view it: lucky as hell.