Following Rafael Nadal's thrilling comeback in the 2022 Australian Open Final, there has been a lot of discussion about where this final ranks compared to other great grand slam finals.
Whilst there always is some recency bias involved, there is no doubt that last Sunday night's match was within the top ten grand slam finals of all time.
What was most impressive of all about this win, however, wasn't the match itself or any of the rounds prior. Instead, it was the fact that 'Rafa' fought through the toughest of adversity to take home his record-breaking 21st grand slam title.
As he revealed in his interview following his big win, "A month and a half ago I didn't know if I would play tennis again at a professional level due to various factors, including the problems I've had with my foot and with COVID."
In order to determine which grand slam final matches since 2000 have been the best, we look through two different criteria:
1. The quality of the match
2. The length of the match (has to be a 5-setter)
3. What it meant for the world of tennis with breaking records etc
Here's our top ten.
Scoreline: Djokovic wins 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
The formula was simple for Novak Djokovic: Win and you regain the world number one spot. Lose and you stay world number two.
Coming up against him on this night was Austrian big hitter Dominic Thiem who had seemingly found career-best form and whilst being an underdog, appeared a decent chance.
Early on, Novak got the first set pretty easily and things were going perfectly to plan.
However, an early break in the second set brought about a sense of confidence within Thiem who would go on to win the next two sets reasonably comfortably.
Most negative of all, Djokovic seemed to have all the life sucked out of him in that horrid third set.
Despite this, Novak managed to demonstrate how insanely good his defence is to eventually claim his eighth Australian Open, his 17th Grand Slam and most importantly return to the number one ranking in the world; a record he still has today.
Scoreline: 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
Having lost the Australian Open earlier in the year, Dominic Thiem was hungry for his first Grand Slam.
However, it seemed destined that Novak Djokovic would once again be a Grand Slam champion given his great record and world number one status.
In what transpired to be a massive shock for the tennis world, Djokovic was shockingly pulled from the tournament after striking a line umpire with the ball.
This eventually opened a door of opportunity for the German and the Austrian, one which they both utilised.
After gaining a two-set lead, the German looked in complete control and it seemed a certainty that he would win. However, after finally getting into the match thanks to some big-hitting, Thiem was flying and Zverev seemingly had no way of dealing with it.
The last set saw Zverev serve for the match at 5-3, a lead that should have seen him hold up the trophy. But, ultimately Thiem's grit saw him win the final set in a tiebreak in potentially the best US Open Finals ever.
Zverev has claimed that this match still "haunts" him to this day.
Scoreline: Nadal wins 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2
This was going to be Nadal and Federer's seventh battle in a grand slam final. By now, this rivalry had just about become the biggest in history and Rafa was desperate to get revenge over Roger after he was beaten by him in 2008.
Early on, Federer looked very shaky, losing his first service game of the match. Following this, the two couldn't be split, keeping their serve for the rest of the first set. As a result, Nadal won that all-important first set.
The rest of the game was a seesawing affair that saw both superstars alternate sets for the rest of the match.
Ultimately, Federer was unable to deal with Nadal's physicality and lost the last set convincingly 6-2. The significance of this game for the tennis world, however, cannot be understated since this night was supposed to be the one where Federer reached Pete Sampras' record of 14 grand slams.
Instead, it seemed as though a relatively new guy on the block could potentially chase down whatever record Federer broke.
Scoreline: 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7
The 2001 Wimbledon Final saw two relatively new players fight it out for a maiden Wimbledon title. On one hand, Aussie Pat Rafter had previously won two grand slams and was ranked third in the world whilst Ivanisevic hadn't made it past the Quarter-Finals of a Grand Slam since 1996 and looked to be on the decline. Corroborating this, Ivanisevic was a wildcard for the tournament ranked 125 in the world.
Rafter was the heavy favourite going into the match but after the first set, the Aussie seemed to be in a bit of a pickle.
However, he quickly fought back to win the second set, an apparent sign of a momentum swing. Despite this momentum swing, Ivanisevic shockingly took out the third set.
Once again, the third seed fought back to win the fourth set extremely convincingly. It appeared as though the fifth set would be the same.
Despite this apparent surge from Rafter, the two couldn't be split with both players holding serve brilliantly throughout the final set.
Ultimately, Ivanisevic ended up getting it done nine games to seven to claim his first grand slam title at the All England Club.
Scoreline: 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
This match could be the most highly anticipated match in tennis history. The Nadal-Federer rivalry now seemed to be coming to its end with both players plagued by injuries during the latter stages of their careers.
Making it even more unlikely as a final match-up, Nadal was the number nine seed at the time while Federer was number 17. They looked as if they were on the decline. However, somehow they both made it through to the final to create one of the best matches we will ever see.
Other than the rivalry itself, the biggest talking point of the match would end up being the short rallies and quick points which both players won. For a five-set match, 3 hours and 38 minutes is an extremely short match.
The whole match saw twists and turns throughout with the two legends alternating sets for the first four sets.
It seemed as though this trend would break for Nadal after he got a 3-1 lead early in the fifth set. However, Federer came home really strong to win a thrilling, emotion-filled match.
This would be Federer's first grand slam since 2012.
Scoreline: 6–7, 2–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–4
Coming into the Final as a very heavy favourite, it seemed as though this match would just be another little step in Novak's journey on his way to the first Golden Slam and the most grand slams ever won by the end of the year of 2021.
He had previously just beaten tournament favourite and 13-time winner Rafael Nadal in a grueling match, highlighting the great form he was in.
In comparison, Tsitsipas had flown under the radar on the weaker side of the draw having picked up big scalps Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.
To everyone's surprise it was Tsitsipas who go on to grab the lead leading two sets to none with all the momentum and energy in the world. Not only this but Tsitsipas had several break points early in the third. Djokovic looked cooked.
However, suddenly Novak caught alight and was returning all of Tsitsipas' beautiful stroke play with impenetrable defence. Unfortunately for the Greek, such a surge was too much to put up with mentally and in turn physically.
Despite many chances from Tsitsipas, Djokovic ultimately stormed home to take out the match in five sets to win his 19th grand slam, one away from fellow legends Nadal and Federer.
Scoreline: 5–7, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 16–14
Like many of the other finals in here, this was a battle between a heavy favourite (Federer) and an underdog (Roddick).
In saying this, it was always going to be tricky for Federer to break Roddick's world-class serve. This proved to be the case with Roddick slamming down ace after ace, accumulating 27 in total.
However, astonishingly, Federer served the lights out with a career-high 50 aces.
Breaks of serve were extremely hard to come by and in the first four sets Roddick managed to win the only two, translating to his two winning sets. Meanwhile, Federer won two very tight tiebreaks where all that was needed was a mini-break.
Ultimately, it came down to a decider where the best server would win. Finally, after 30 games in the last set (more than three times the amount in the set prior) Federer went on to win one of the longest matches in history taking home his 15th grand slam in the process. Such a win saw Federer overcome Pete Sampras' record of 14, putting him first on the all-time list.
Scoreline: 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
Last Sunday night's match was an utterly brilliant display of courage, determination and skill from arguably the best to ever do it, Rafael Nadal.
Against all odds, the 35-year-old turned things around after being down 2 sets and 2-3 (0-40) in the third set.
Whilst his progress wasn't anything close to linear, ultimately, Nadal managed to defeat Russian Daniil Medvedev in a whopping 5 hours and 24 minutes.
Such a comeback brought the crowd and most notably the tennis world into absolute delirium at Rod Laver Arena.
Scoreline: 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 13-12 (7-3)
Another rivalry between two members of the big three saw the tennis world shift their focus to the All England club for Novak Djokovic versus Roger Federer.
Djokovic came into the game as the favourite due to his terrific form and also his great record against Federer.
However, the first four sets could not split the two legends with both players producing quality shots at big moments.
In a painfully long final set, Federer worked hard for multiple match points. But ultimately, Djokovic's absolutely phenomenal grit got him over the line in a new 12-12 tiebreak.
Scoreline: 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7 (5–7), 7–5
With both players at the peak of their powers, this was set to be an absolute ripper grand slam final between the two best players in the world.
The quality in the match was extremely high in the first four sets and just continued to go up exponentially as time went on.
The game was grueling and both players could barely conjure the energy to celebrate big points. It was the closest to a battlefield a tennis court could ever be.
However, once Nadal got a break at 4-2, the match seemed like it would finally fall in the favour of the Spaniard.
Despite this, Djokovic then went on to win five of the last six games of the match to clinch an absolutely epic victory in the early hours of the morning.
The match lasted for a total of five hours and 53 minutes, breaking the record for the longest match in Australian Open history.