For a long time, I could never warm to Roger Federer.
I couldn't put my finger on why that was though. He was undeniably the best player on the planet, but the sight of him walking off the court with barely a bead of sweat on his brow just left me feeling cold, no matter how much he won.
I was more of a Nadal guy. Even when he won matches easily, he looked as if every point he played was his last. He appeared every bit the warrior with his grunting and his fist-pumping and his guttural roar of "Vamos!" when he bulleted a forehand winner.
Federer was all understatement. He warmed-up at Wimbledon in a cardigan, he rarely showed emotion on the court, but more often than not he won.
It was really when Nadal started to match him beyond clay, and when Djokovic and Murray emerged into the big four that I started to really appreciate Federer as more than just a winning machine.
And it was times like in 2009, when his emotion caught up on him after losing the 2009 Australian Open final to Nadal, that I felt I was warming to him more and more.
The emotion made him seem human.
He's won 17 Grand Slams, three more than anyone else. He's done five-in-a-row at Wimbledon, four-in-a-row at Flushing Meadows, and in a two-year period between 2005 and 2007 reached 10 finals in a row.
Pound for pound, winning the 2017 Australian Open could be his greatest ever achievement though. It would be his version of Nicklaus at Augusta in 86, or of Ali rope-a-doping Foreman in 74. Back from the wilderness. Another reminder of why he's the GOAT.
Roger Federer is one of the all time greats of sport. What a man. What a legend.
— John Duggan (@jduggantodayfm) January 26, 2017
It's four-and-a-half years since Federer won the last of his 17 Grand Slam titles, losing three deciders to Novak Djokovic in that time.
He remained the greatest, but in the last few years he's gone from being the man to beat, to the man that might get in your way.
And he hasn't had it easy reaching this year's Melbourne final. Six months off nursing an injury left him coming into the tournament as the 17th seed, and needing to beat the likes of Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori before he'd even reached the quarter finals.
Sunday's final will see him up against either his old rival Nadal, who he hasn't faced in a Grand Slam decider since 2011, or 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Whatever the result, he'll remain the greatest.
