Men's Tennis: 5 best Australian Open finals

#1 Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal (2012)

Novak Djokovic with the 2012 Australian Open trophy

The 2012 Australian Open finals match-up between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is considered by many fans and pundits alike to be the greatest Grand Slam final of all time.

It was the longest ever Grand Slam final ever contested stretching for 5 hours and 53 minutes. Djokovic emerged victorious over Nadal 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7 (5–7), 7–5 to lift his third Australian Open trophy. There was very little to separate these two gladiators as the margin of defeat was very narrow.

The Spaniard in his post-match press conference described the match as both the hardest loss of his career and the best match that he had ever played. Few could argue about that. Nadal was seemingly hitting winners in his forehand from ridiculous angles sometimes not even being captured by the camera's frame.

“I’m full of joy,” Djokovic said, “but I think still I don’t have a real sense of what’s going on.” This practically summed up the entire match. If at all any match deserved a draw in tennis, this had to be the one.