MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams overpowered Dinara Safina to secure a fourth Australian Open tennis title today, giving her 10 career Grand Slams, ranking her seventh all-time.

The No. 2 seed Williams routed the third-seeded Russian 6-0, 6-3 at Melbourne Park to extend her run of victories in odd years at the season-opening major that began in 2003.

Williams regains the No. 1 ranking she first captured in 2002 and moves above Monica Seles on the list of women's Grand Slam singles champions headed by Margaret Court with 24. The American captured her third major in the past six.

Williams was playing in her 13th Grand Slam singles final — and she's won 10 so far. Safina's sole final in a major came last year when she lost at the French Open to Ana Ivanovic.

NADAL VS. FEDERER

After five arduous hours, Rafael Nadal couldn't hold back the tears when he pulled within a point of making the Australian Open final.

Yet he managed to compose himself and held off Fernando Verdasco in five sets. Verdasco double-faulted after saving two match points, and Nadal won 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 6-4 yesterday in the longest match in the tournament's history. Nadal flopped on back — exhausted and elated — after a 5-hour, 14-minute semifinal match few expected to go long.

The top-ranked Nadal advanced to another final against Roger Federer, who is bidding to equal Pete Sampras' record 14 Grand Slam singles titles.

"Today was, yeah, one of these matches you going to remember long time, no?" Nadal said. "Well, the emotion was big."

Especially when the score got to love-40 in the last game.

"I start to cry. ... too much tension," he said.

Nadal can expect more tension tomorrow when he meets Federer for the seventh time to decide a Grand Slam. Nadal has a 4-2 edge highlighted by last year's epic 4:48, five-set win at Wimbledon.

That was a breakthrough for Nadal, who had been all-conquering on clay since winning his first major at Roland Garros in 2005 but lost two Wimbledon finals to Federer. He later won the Olympic gold medal and ended Federer's record string of 237 weeks at No. 1.

The 22-year-old Spaniard couldn't compare the drama of his win over Verdasco with that of ending Federer's five-year reign on grass.

"The final of Wimbledon was the final of Wimbledon," he said, adding that victory was a "little bit more emotional."

Not that he was discounting the struggle against 14th-seeded Verdasco, who had never been beyond the fourth round at a major.

The 25-year-old Verdasco beat No. 4 Andy Murray in the fourth round and 2008 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals.

"Verdasco was playing unbelievable," Nadal said. "I think I was very good mentally all the time, believing in the victory."

Nadal said Verdasco was "very tough" and finds it "amazing" to be in the final after such a match.

The scorching heat of the past three days dropped from a high of 113 degrees to under 86 before this semifinal at Rod Laver Arena.

With the arena's namesake in the crowd, Nadal was clearly tested by Verdasco ripped 95 winners. But he remained steadfast, averaging just five unforced errors a set.

For his part, Verdasco thought he might have done his friend a disservice: Nadal was pushed to five sets; Federer needed only straight sets to dispatch Andy Roddick in his semifinal but also got an extra day to rest.

"Really a pity for Rafa for sure that he won the match, that he played that long for the final," said Verdasco, who won the deciding match in Spain's Davis Cup triumph at Argentina last November.

"I want him to be 100 percent to play that final and to try to win," he added. "He's a big friend. I wish him the best of luck."

Nadal, after his late night and a good sleep, wanted to be on court practicing about 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. today, hoping to get the stiffness out of his legs. He acknowledged it would be tough to recover for his first Grand Slam final on a hard court.

"Roger has a bit of an advantage," said Nadal, who has improved one round with each of his five trips to Australia. "It's tough to sleep after something like this. But it's very important for me to be in this final. Whatever happens on Sunday, I've started the season my best ever."

Nadal had beaten Verdasco in all six previous matches, dropping only one set. He had set a tournament record in advancing through five matches, conceding fewer games (40) than anyone who previously reached the semis of a 128-man draw in Australia.