5 unique facts about the Australian Open final

#2: Least 5-setter finals amongst all the Slams in the Open Era

Federer (right) featured in only the 5th Australian Open final in the Open Era to go the distance

Among 38 Open Era Grand Slam men's singles finals to have gone the distance, the Australian Open (6) has had the least such instances among all the 4 Grand Slam tournaments on the tennis calendar.

The corresponding numbers at the 3 other Grand Slam tournaments are 8 at Roland Garros, 15 at Wimbledon, and 9 at the US Open.

1977 (Vitas Gerulaitis beat John Lloyd), 1987 (Stefan Edberg beat Pat Cash), 1988 (Mats Wilander beat Pat Cash), 2009 (Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer), 2012 (Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal), and 2018 (Roger Federer beat Marin Cilic) are the only Australian Open finals in the Open Era to have featured 5 sets.

#3: Only retirement in a men's singles final in the Open Era

Ivan Lendl (1990) beat Stefan Edberg

Stefan Edberg retired after trailing Ivan Lendl 6-4, 6-7(3), 2-5 in the 1990 Australian Open final. It remains the only Grand Slam men's singles final in the Open Era to have featured a retirement. It also marked Lendl's 8th and final Grand Slam singles title.