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.

5. 2021 French Open: Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)

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.