Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic went over their physical limits during 2012 Australian Open final, says Serena Williams' ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou

The 2012 Australian Open final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic is considered to be among the greatest tennis matches of all time, if not the greatest.

The two legends of the game played out a thrilling encounter that lasted for 5 hours and 53 minutes, with Djokovic winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5), 7-5.

Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou spoke about the match in a video that he shared on Instagram.

Mouratoglou said that both Nadal and Djokovic went over their physical limits and were able to do so because they were both mentally very strong.

"They went over their limits, physical limits, both of them. But again, both re probably two of the best players on the mental side, of all times, and that's why they were able to go over their physical limits. It was one of the most mental matches in history," Mouratoglou said.

"If someone would ask them, 'Can you play for 6 hours at the highest level?' Probably both of them would have said, 'No, maybe I can't', but when they were at the moment, they refused to lose, both of them, so strongly, that their mind brought them there," he added.

Mouratoglou said that while they were physically prepared, they were able to play for that long because of their mentality. He also claimed that if two other players, who were just as well prepared physically, would've cracked during such a long match without the mentality.

"Yes of course they were super well prepared physically but it's not enough. Two other guys as well prepared physically but without this mentality would have cracked down during that match. That's what gave both of them the opportunity to go that far and play for almost six hours," the Frenchman said.

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Novak Djokovic now holds the record for the most number of weeks as World No. 1

Novak Djokovic during the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships

Djokovic is in his 378th week as World No. 1, thus breaking Steffi Graf's record for the highest number of weeks at the top of the rankings. The Serb returned to the summit of the ATP rankings following his triumph at the Australian Open.

He is currently competing at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he is the top seed. The Serb started the tournament with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1) win over Tomas Machac before beating Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 6-3 to book his place in the quarterfinals.

Here, he will face Hubert Hurkacz and the winner of the match will take on either Daniil Medvedev or Borna Coric in the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships