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.

6. 2017 Australian Open: Roger Federer (SUI) vs Rafael Nadal (ESP)

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.