5. Australian Open 2012
Nadal and Djokovic had played some tough matches, some which got over their nerves, but the Australian Open final in 2012 would be remembered as an epic, where both of them provided the crowd with entertainment worth their money.
Defending champion Djokovic, defeated the second-seeded Nadal, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5, in a match that lasted 5 hours 53 minutes, making it the longest Grand Slam men’s singles final in the history of the game.
"It was obvious on the court for everybody who has watched the match that both of us, physically, we took the last drop of energy that we had from our bodies," Djokovic said. "We made history tonight and unfortunately there couldn`t be two winners."
The match ended at 1:37 a.m. Monday morning in Melbourne. Djokovic gave tennis fans a memorable sight as he ripped off his shirt celebrating his marathon victory. At the post match conference, it was another funny sight for the fans as both the players were on their haunches and were later offered chairs to sit, much to their relief.
Nadal too made history for the wrong reason as he became the first man in the Open era to lose three straight major singles finals.
