Novak Djokovic wore down Rafael Nadal in the longest Grand Slam singles final in the history of professional tennis, winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 after 5 hours, 53 minutes to claim his third Australian Open title. Djokovic sealed victory at 1.37 A.M. Monday local time and became the fifth man since the Open Era began in 1968 to win three straight Grand Slam finals. The 24-year-old Djokovic tore off his shirt in celebration after one of the most dramatic finals in the history of the game. He went to his support camp and repeatedly thumped the side of the arena in front of them in delight and relief. Nadal leaned on the net, while Djokovic sat on his haunches before the trophy presentation. Eventually, nearby official took pity and they were given chairs and a bottle of water each. “We made history tonight and unfortunately there couldn't be two winners,” Djokovic said. Djokovic's win maintained his mastery of Nadal, who has lost seven straight finals against the Serb since March last year. In the most devastating of circumstances, Nadal became the first man in the Open Era to lose three straight major finals. He lost in four sets to Djokovic at last year's Wimbledon and US Open. Having reduced Roger Federer to tears when he won the title over five sets in 2009, Nadal maintained his composure during the on-court speeches — and even managed a joke. “Good morning, everybody,” Nadal said, earning laughs and loud applause from the crowd. “Congratulations to Novak and his team. They deserve it. They are doing something fantastic, so congratulations.” After coming back from 5-3 down to win the fourth-set tiebreaker, Nadal was up a break at 4-2 in the fifth set against Djokovic, who seemed to be tiring. But the No. 1-ranked Djokovic, who needed almost five hours to win his semifinal against Andy Murray, somehow responded. He broke for a 6-5 lead and saved a break point before finally claiming the win. The previous longest major singles final was Mats Wilander's win over Ivan Lendl at the US Open in 1988, which lasted 4 hours, 54 minutes. The longest Australian Open final also involved Wilander in 1988, when the Swede beat Pat Cash. Sunday's match was also the longest in the tournament's history. A tense, error-strewn opening set offered no indication of the high drama to follow. In hot, humid conditions, both players struggled for consistency. Nadal had only lost one match of his previous 134 in Grand Slams after winning the first set, but he found his serve coming under increasing pressure as the match wore on. American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau of Romania won the Australian Open mixed doubles title, beating Indian-Russian pairing Leander Paes and Elena Vesnina in a match tie-break. The eighth seeds ran away with the decider after Paes and Vesnina leveled the match, winning 6-3, 5-7, 10/3 in 1hr 42min. Mattek-Sands and Tecau showed enormous composure to overcome the vastly experienced Paes and his Russian partner. Of the four players on court, only doubles specialist Paes had previously won a grand slam title. The veteran Indian, who won the men's doubles with Radek Stepanek Saturday, has won 13 grand slam doubles and mixed doubles titles.
