Serb Novak Djokovic claimed his third men’s Australian Open crown and fifth Grand Slam title in all after overcoming Spain’s Rafael Nadal in a titanic five set battle at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Djokovic, who has now beaten Nadal in their last seven meetings, triumphed 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 in just seven minutes short of six hours in what was the longest Grand Slam final in history.
He has now won the last three Grand Slam titles. Despite having met 29 times over the years, this was the first five-setter between the world's two leading men's singles players.
Nadal took a hard-fought first set 7-5 after exchanging breaks early on and then breaking the Serb again in the eleventh game.
Djokovic fought back immediately and, with two service breaks, served for the second set at 5-2. However, some inspired returns from Nadal saw him break the Djokovic serve but he couldn't repeat the feat and the Serb served out to level the match.
Djokovic dominated the third set and ran out an easy 6-2 winner but Nadal, a veteran of so many Grand Slam finals, hit back to win the fourth on a tie-break and send the match into a final set.
The Spaniard started well and, after two comfortable service holds, broke to lead 3-2. But Djokovic was not to be denied. He broke back to level at 4-4, then broke again to lead 6-5 before serving out for a memorable victory.