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.

7. 2001 Wimbledon Final: Goran Ivanisevic (CRO) vs Pat Rafter (AUS)

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.