A HANDSOME replica of the Australian Open trophy is now being packed and prepared to be flown to Majorca.

Rafael Nadal is the champion. He's got his first Australian Open title. He's some A$2 million ($1.92m) richer. The score? 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2.

While taking nothing away from the 22-year-old Spaniard who was a deserving champion, sadly, the score, the money, the trophy and, possibly, Roger Federer's tears is about all I will remember of the final.

And I blame it on the two semi-finals and that epic Wimbledon final seven months ago.

Ah, that you must remember. How could we forget?

So it was, after watching the Nadal-Fernando Vedasco five-setter on Friday and that stylish show by Federer against Andy Roddick a day earlier, I selfishly expected something of the same epic proportions.

So I was disappointed when the hair on my arms didn't stand on end.

You may not agree, but that was how I saw it.

By all counts and, I'm sure even by the players' lofty standards, it wasn't a five-star final. It was, at best, a match worthy of polite applause.

Sure there were some out-of-our-seat moments when one player executed some finely-crafted shot. But deep inside, it was like I had seen the movie before and knew the ending.

Also, it didn't help that both players were so self-effacing that it sometimes hid their genius.

Sure, we saw some emotion from Federer. We saw fire in his eyes. And we saw the sentimental smoothness in the way he moved the ball. But that was it.

As for Nadal last night, he was to tennis what Dick Fosbury was to the high jump. An original mind combined with rare athletic talent.

Mild

But where was that powder keg of emotion? Sure, the neck veins still looked like snakes, the mouth spray was flying. But everything else was mild.

Ambition, however, was not in short supply. That much I must give to the players. Then again, that's what the collaboration of two incredible tennis minds usually brings to the sport.

Yes, so it went to five - although some may say, it 'dragged' into five sets. I mean, a five-setter doesn't necessarily translate to an 'epic' match. Long, yes. Daring, dazzling, dramatic? No.

To me, the 2009 Australian Open final lost something in tension and heart.

However, and even amid the comparative tedium, there was enough that was potentially significant to hold all but the most casual fan's interest.

Like the tension of the tie-break, which we saw decide the third set in Nadal's favour. Like those terse exchanges in French between the Swiss and the umpire.

Like those stylish aces down the 'T'. Or Federer's fantastic forehand winners which had Nadal swiping the night's air like he was swatting at moths.

Or when Nadal teased the Swiss with his disguised drops and glorious passing shots.

Yes, the sound of a well-struck Federer forehand and the 'plunk' of one of Nadal's delicate dropshots hits you directly.

And yesterday, I was hit left, right and centre.

Sadly, they didn't knock me out.