2012 Australian Open Men’s Singles Final: Crazy Match Between Djokovic & Nadal

Tsk… I know, I know. I’m few days late in posting this up.

Anyone watched last Sunday’s Australian Open Men’s Singles final?
I am still shaken with the fact that I get to witnessed this historic tennis match with such great proportions.

Warriors hugging each other.

This was an epic match in so many levels. Sincerely I wasn’t disappointed with Nadal’s lost. Both parties could have win it. Djokovic showed his vulnerability in the SF match with Murray and so I know he isn’t untouchable.

The 1st set took around 80-88 mins to complete and goes to Nadal. Djokovic took the 2nd and 3rd set rather easily. Nadal seems to be in a haze. Coming to the 4th set, I thought well… surely this is it. Djokovic is gonna win it and claim the trophy. But wait, Nadal suddenly ‘woke up’ and fights back. If it’s another player, that would have been the end of the story. But ahh… Nadal the superhuman fought back 🙂 and claim the 4th set. Way to go!!! He truly is the greatest tennis fighter of all time.

Coming to the last set, it was anyone’s game (like I said earlier). By this time, I actually didn’t care who wins it. We were given one of the best tennis match display in recent times. Shot after shot of really really good tennis. Watching on, I was more exhausted than the 2 players. Can you imagine playing a total of 31 shots rally? Or spending over 10 mins for just a game? In one of the scene Djokovic collapses, unbelieving he has just played a really long rally. I saw Djokovic breathing quite heavily a few times but Nadal was just cool about it. LOL

And as we all know Djokovic beats Nadal.
Match result: 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5

This final took 5 hours and (wait for it…) 53 ‘freaking’ minutes!!! How crazy can this be???
This is the longest match in Australian Open history and the longest Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era.

This stats alone is enough to blow me away. Are they robots? How come they’re not tired? It was the power of adrenalin that pushes them on.

During the speeches just before trophy presentation, both looks like they’re gonna collapse. Jelly legs? Haha. Thankfully the ‘warriors’ were rescued by given chair and drinking water each.

This is Djokovic 3rd consecutive win over Nadal in Grand Slam final. That also means Nadal has lost 3 consecutive Grand Slam final (and is the first person to do so) in the Open Era tennis.

I wouldn’t say this is the greatest match in tennis history. Remember the GREAT Wimbledon 2008 singles final? Nadal vs Federer? For me, the men’s singles final in Australian Open 2012 and Wimbledon 2008 stand side by side as the 2 greatest matches in tennis history. One is a match of true gladiators while the other is a match of tennis pleasure.

Ohh I can’t wait for French Open (May). Will Rafael Nadal still be the King of Clay or a new hero will emerge carrying the name Novak Djokovic?

Photos from Australian Open.