5 Most Memorable Slam Finals Of The Open Era

Five decades have gone by since the beginning of the open era in tennis and there have been countless champions who have graced this great sport.

The four Grand Slams are still the biggest trophies in the game. There have been about 200 Grand Slam Championships and as many finals. Every Slam final is a big moment for the game, But some of those finals have their special place in the hearts and memories of every tennis fan.

So here are five of the most memorable Grand Slam finals in the history of the open era of men's tennis:

#5Wimbledon 2009 (Roger Federer vs Andy Roddick)

(The Maestro of Grass Returns)

Overview:

Time Duration: 4 hrs 16 minutes

Total No of points: 436

Total games played: 75

Total No of Aces: 77

Total No of Winners: 181

Final Scoreline

Federer def. Roddick: 5–7, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 16–14

Background:

In 2009, Roger Federer came to Wimbledon to reclaim the kingdom he ruled for five years from 2003 to 2007. Just a few weeks after winning his first Roland Garros title, the then 14 time Grand Slam champion was aiming to break Pete Sampras' record of most Slam titles. Having lost to Nadal in an epic final the previous year, Federer reached the final only losing one set. On the other hand, the American fought his way through to the final. Roddick beat former champion Lleyton Hewitt in a five-set quarterfinal by 6–3, 6–7(10–12), 7–6(7–1), 4–6, 6–4 and had a tough semifinal against the young Andy Murray.

Match:

As expected, the match started with both players holding their serves, however, on the 12th game, at 5-6, Federer got broken by Roddick and lost the first set. The second set went to the tiebreak and Roddick had 4 set points at 6-2 to double his lead. But the Swiss Maestro had other plans, grabbing 6 straight points to win the second set and level the match at one set all.

The third set also had to be decided in the tiebreak, with Federer winning it comfortably, 7-1. Roddick fought back in the fourth by breaking Federer's serve to win it 6-3. In the final set, both players held on to their serves till the 30th game. It was when Roddick had to serve to stay in the match at 14-15 that Federer broke his serve for the first time in the match to claim his 6th Wimbledon and 15th overall Grand Slam title to surpass Sampras.

#4 French Open 1984 (John McEnroe vs Ivan Lendl)

(The Unforgettable Comeback)

Overview:

Time Duration: 4 hrs 8 minutes

Total Points: 292

Total Aces: 36

Total Winners: 117

Total games played: 51

Final Scoreline

Lendl def. McEnroe: 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5

Background:

The year 1984 was special for tennis in many ways. John McEnroe reached the peak of his game, winning 13 titles with an 82-3 win-loss record. He arrived at Roland Garros without losing a single match in the whole year with 37 straight wins. As expected, he reached the final and extended his win streak to 43 matches. He was expected to win the title, which had alluded Americans for almost three decades. The last American to win at the red clay of Roland Garros was Tony Trabert in 1955. Lendl, on the other hand, was tagged as a choker for losing his last four Grand Slam finals. He also reached the final with a fair amount of ease.

Match:

The first set started like any other day in the office, with McEnroe dominating Lendl with big serves and amazing net play. The American won the set easily by 6-3. Things got even tougher for Lendl in the second set as he had no answers to McEnroe's attacking play, thus losing it by 6-2. The third set was more balanced in competition. Lendl started using more lobs and passing shots to counter McEnroe's net play.

At 5-4, Lendl broke serve to claim the third set. The fourth set witnessed multiple breaks of serve. McEnroe was leading by a break with the scores at 4-2. That is when it started to turn around. McEnroe lost his serve twice to lose the set unexpectedly by 5-7. In the final set, Lendl's physical toughness started to play a role but a tired McEnroe hanged on thanks to his big serve. The set was on serve at 6-5 with McEnroe to serve to stay in the match. After saving one championship point, McEnroe miss hit a simple volley into the net, which cost him the biggest loss of his career. He was so disappointed that he refused to address the crowd after the match.

#3 Australian Open 2012 (Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal)

(The Marathon Battle)

Overview:

Time Duration: 5 hrs 52 minutes

Total No of points: 369

Total games played: 54

Total No of Winners: 101

Final Scoreline

Djokovic def. Nadal : 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5

Background:

The 2012 Australian Open final was another chapter of the Nadal-Djokovic rivalry. Both the players continued their amazing run of form from the previous year to reach the final of the first Grand Slam of the year. Djokovic had defeated Nadal in 6 finals in 2011, winning two of the four majors.

Match:

The first set began with the hold of serves from both sides until Nadal broke Djokovic's serve to claim the set by 7-5. In the second set, the Spaniard broke again, but Novak came back at the crucial time to level the match at one set all. The Serb dominated the third set, holding his serve comfortably and breaking Nadal's serve twice to take the lead in the match. However, Nadal fought back in the fourth set and upped his game. The moment of the set came when he faced three straight break points in the 8th game, but fought back and won five points in a row to stay on serve.

The set went into the tiebreak and Nadal was behind by 3-5 but once again fought back to win four straight points to level the match. The decider started with a few hold of serves until Rafa broke Novak's serve in the 6th game to lead by 4-2. But the Serb broke right back to level the set again.

After a few games, in the 11th one, Djokovic broke again and held the serve on 12th to defend his title in the longest final ever. The fatigue from the match was so much that both players weren't able to even stand on their foot for the post-match ceremony.

#2 Wimbledon 1980 (Bjorn Borg vs John McEnroe)

(When Fire Met Ice)

Overview:

Time Duration: 3 hrs 53 minutes

Total Points: 376

Total games played: 54

Total Aces: 40

Total Winners: 132

Final Scoreline

Borg def McEnroe: 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(16-18), 8-6

Background:

Bjorn Borg was the undisputed king of tennis having won 9 majors already by 1980. And then a challenger came from a young McEnroe. The 1980 Wimbledon was set for the ultimate battle between the baseline Borg vs the net rusher McEnroe, between the gentleman of tennis Borg vs the bad boy McEnroe. Without disappointing, both of them reached the final overcoming a few tough matches on their way.

Match:

The first set started with McEnroe dominating play with his big serves and volley skills winning it easily by 6-1. But as always, Borg fought back and both players held their serves up to the 11th game. In the 12th game, McEnroe was serving to stay in the set but as always Borg improved his level of play at the crucial time to break and took the set. Borg broke early on the third set to take the 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set witnessed an epic struggle between the two for the match. Borg was serving for the Championship and had two consecutive match points but the American refused to give up and broke back at the crucial time to go into a tiebreak.

Then began the most memorable tiebreak in the history of the game. The hustle started with usual holding on to serves from both sides. And then at 5-5 Borg got his third championship point on McEnroe's serve, then again on his own serve, failing to convert both of them. Borg created three more championship points without any success of conversion.

McEnroe got to few set points missing on all of those until finally he won the epic tiebreak by 18-16. The fifth set was again equally competitive as both holding their serves until finally on the 14th game McEnroe finally broke down and lost the set by 6-8 and the championship as well. "Long live the king" was the scream from the commentator at the end of this epic battle.

#1 Wimbledon 2008 (Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal)

(The Clash of Titans)

Overview:

Time Duration: 4 hrs 48 minutes

Total No of points: 413

Total games played: 60

Total No of Aces: 31

Total No of Winners: 149

Final Scoreline

Nadal def. Federer: 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7

Background:

Federer had already won 5 Wimbledon titles in a row and Nadal was the runner-up in the previous two. Though Federer had won last two finals on this ground, everyone could sense that the Spaniard was getting closer to end Federer's dominance on the grass of the All England Club. It had just been a few weeks since Nadal had thrashed Federer in a one-sided final at Roland Garros. And legends like Borg predicted Nadal to be that year's Wimbledon Champion. Both the top 2 seeds reached the final fairly easily - Roger without dropping a set and Nadal losing just one.

Match:

Federer served first to start the proceedings but got broken on his second service game. Nadal held all of his service games to clinch the first set by 6-4. The second set started exactly opposite to the first with Roger breaking immediately after holding his own serve. After three more games the Swiss Maestro was up 4-1 in the set, but Nadal fought back as always winning 5 straight games to win the set by 6-4. The third set went the distance with both of the players holding their serves saving a few break points in the process. Federer dominated the tiebreak and clinched it with an ace in the end.

The fourth set was for the servers to hold without facing a single break point in the process. And so the tiebreak started with Roger gaining an early mini-break just to give it back to Nadal in the next few points. Nadal was up 5-2 on his serve, however, at that point, the pressure of a big point started to build and Nadal double-faulted.

The Swiss went on to win next four points to get a set point at 6-5. This was Federer's turn to panic to mistime a forehand and the score was level. The game of gaining and losing of match points and set points went on until finally, Roger converting one of the set points to level the match.

The final set was no exception to the rest of the match, service games held, break points were erased from both ends, until finally in the 15th game, Nadal broke Roger's serve and his spirit too. But the five time champion was yet to give up. He saved another championship point on the final game of the tournament but this was Nadal's moment to shine and he did so by holding his serve and then he laid on the ground in joy. "There is a new man in the Jungle" was the cry from the commentator and indeed the Spaniard was the man of the moment.

Honorable Mentions: 1980 US Open(Borg vs McEnroe), 1982 Wimbledon(Connors vs McEnroe), 1988 US Open(Lendl vs Wilander) , 2007 Wimbledon(Federer vs Nadal), 2017 Australian Open(Federer vs Nadal).