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MELBOURNE – Newly crowned Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal said the fear of a sudden end to his Grand Slam spree is inspiring him to take his tennis to another level after his titanic victory over Roger Federer.

The Spaniard is the undisputed king of men's tennis after he surged home to prevent Federer from equalling the all-time majors record in an epic five-setter in Sunday's final in Melbourne.

The 22-year-old holds a special place in tennis, capturing his sixth major title in only his 20th Grand Slam tournament, second only to the strike-rate of Sweden's Bjorn Borg (18 tournaments and six months younger).

By comparison, American Pete Sampras, who holds the record number of 14 Grand Slam wins, won his sixth major in his 25th Grand Slam while Federer reached that mark in his 26th major.

Nadal also became the first Spanish man to win the Australian Open.

His gripping 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-2 triumph in four hours and 23 minutes improved his record over Federer to 13-6 and stretched his lead over the Swiss in the world rankings to more than 3000 points.

But although the world number one is at the height of his tennis powers and holds three of the four Grand Slams, he is cautious about mapping out what he can achieve in the game.

"I have six (majors) right now. I'm happy with my six and I am going to continue to try my best every day to improve my tennis and to continue to win matches and titles," Nadal said after his victory.

"But I know everything is very difficult. Every title, I know how tough it is to win every one.

"I don't know if I'm going to win more. When I won my first one I didn't know if I was going to win more.

"You never know when that (will) stop. So you have to be always with precaution and you have to be humble to continue working."

Nadal is the current holder of the French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open titles, with the US Open the only Grand Slam yet to elude him.

The Spaniard is bidding for his fifth consecutive title at Roland Garros at the season's next Grand Slam, starting on May 24, and weeks later will defend his Wimbledon crown after ending Federer's run of five titles at the All England club last year.

"This is very special for me -- it's a dream to win a hardcourt Grand Slam," he said.

"I've worked very hard all my life to improve my tennis outside of clay courts so I'm very happy with the (Australian) title."

Nadal played down talk he was the undisputed king of men's tennis.

"Oh, no, no. I don't know. I've just won an important title in my career," he said. "But I'm no better now than I was five hours ago. I am the same."

MELBOURNE – Three-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams has stumbled into the third round with a patchy display that did little to justify the bookies' belief she can snatch a fourth title.

Serena, seeded two, appeared to be cruising to a win over Gisela Dulko of Argentina but instead found herself engaged in a 6-3, 7-5 dogfight lasting almost two hours.

"It was definitely a tough second set, she was just playing unbelievable and started hitting winners left and right," the American said.

"She had some opportunities but I never felt like I was going to lose. I feel like I can play a lot better and hopefully I will."

Serena was up 3-0 in less than 10 minutes and threatened to race away with the match before the Argentine desperately defended her serve to claw back a game and make it 3-1.

Serena, previously criticised for lacking focus in the early rounds of Grand Slams, appeared to drift off towards the end of the first set, throwing away three set points as Dulko served at 5-2.

The American then lifted her intensity and deployed one of the most lethal serves in the women's game, blasting down three aces to take the set after 31 minutes.

Dulko, who has never made it past the second round at the Australian Open in five attempts, then ran Serena around the court to earn a break in the second game of the second set.

The Argentine held serve to go up 3-0 before Serena broke back three games later.

The reigning US champion's frustration was evident after Dulko regained the advantage in the next and her error rate crept up as the set went 5-3 against her.

Screaming "Oh my God" at one point when a backhand return went long, she rallied to save one set point with a pinpoint cross court return.

Dulko then threw away three more with a double fault and two unforced errors.

But Serena struggled to capitalise on three of her own break points as the game went to deuce 12 times, finally benefitting from a poorly hit Dulko return to make it 5-4.

While the crowd was cheering for the slightly-built Dulko, Serena had regained control by this stage and completed a five-game winning streak to claim victory.