Fernando Verdasco had yet to win a match against Rafael Nadal when the two met in the 2009 Australian Open semifinals. Verdasco defeated the Spanish international 6-7(4) in the first set, Nadal’s first set loss in the tournament. The World No.1 won back-to-back sets to establish his dominance. Verdasco refused to go down without a battle and won the next set to force the game into the tiebreaks. Ever so elegant, Nadal won the final set 6-4 to set up a Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal final. Nadal and Verdasco played for five hours and 14 minutes.
Ivo Karlovic and Horacio Zeballos played each other in the first round of the 2017 Australian Open. Karlovic was known for his serves, but Zeballos’ aggressive shots got the better of him in the first set. Zeballos also won the next set; spectators could smell a very short game. However, Karlovic spoiled the party, winning the next two sets. The tiebreak set went on for two hours and 37 minutes, almost as much as the length of the first four sets. Karlovic completed his comeback, winning the final set 22-20 in a five-hour and 15-minute-long match.
Daniil Medvedev was the final hurdle in Rafael Nadal’s 21st Grand Slam run at 2022 Australian Open. Medvedev had nearly pulled off a win after winning the first two sets with 2-6 and 6-7(5) scorelines. But one can never count Nadal out, and when the Spaniard won the third set, most tennis fans could already see a fifth set coming. Nadal stood up to the expectation and won the next two sets despite going down 0-40 in the third set at one point. He won his second consecutive Grand Slam with a 7-5 win in the final set in a five-hour, 24-minute-long final.
Andy Murray entered the history books when he faced Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open. Murray lost the first two sets 4-6 and 6-7(7). He switched gears and resorted to more aggressive play after going down 5-2 in the third set. Murray won the third set 7-6(7) and then comfortably bagged the next one as well. A rigorous battle unfolded in the tiebreak, but Murray held onto his nerves to win the set 7-5 and move to the next round. The matchup went on for five hours and 45 minutes.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played the longest men’s singles game at the 2012 Australian Open. The arch-rivals fought till the last hit for the Grand Slam crown. Nadal took the lead in the first set, but the Serbians equalled in the second set. When Djokovic went ahead in the next set, the Spaniard matched him in the following. Nadal and Djokovic went all out in the fifth set, but the latter took home the glory with a 7-5 in the final set after a five-hour 53-minute-long match.
Chanda Rubin faced Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the Women’s singles quarterfinals of the 1996 Australian Open. Vicario had got the better of Rubin in the QF of the previous AO edition. 19-year-old Rubin won the first set, but Vicario won the second set more convincingly. The third set lasted for two hours and 22 minutes as Rubin prevailed with a 16-14 scoreline. It was the longest game in the Australian Open history at that time, with a total duration of three hours and 33 minutes.
The third round of the 2017 Australian Open saw Svetlana Kuznetsova take on Jelena Jankovic. Kuznetsova took the lead with a 6-4 win in the first set. She even got the double break in the second set, but Jankovic lost only one of the next seven games to equalise. Kuznetsova won a thrilling final set with an 8-7 scoreline to progress to the next round. The game lasted three hours and 36 minutes.
Simona Halep entered the 2018 Australian Open as the world No.1. She took on Lauren Davis in the tournament's third round. Davis hinted at a potential upset by winning the first set 6-4. However, the Americans' intentions were put to a halt as Halep emerged victorious in the second set. The pair played a two-hour 22 minutes final set, ending in Halep’s favor with a 15-13 scoreline. The fierce battle lasted for three hours and 44 minutes.
The first-round game between Barbora Strycova and Regina Kulikova at the 2010 Australian Open was then the longest women’s singles game in the tournament history. Kulikova lost the first set in her Grand Slam debut in the tiebreakers. The debutant played another thrilling set and flipped the result in the tie breaks this time. But the world No.67 stepped up to the occasion and comfortably won the final set 6-3 to win the game. Kulikova and Strycova gave it their all for four hours and 19 minutes.
Francesca Schiavone fought a long battle for her first quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open in 2011. The sixth seed went head-to-head against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round. Schiavone clinched the first set but was left clueless in the next. Both athletes refused to lose in the deciding set as the set continued for three hours. Schiavone got the breakthrough and had a huge sigh of relief after a draining four hours and 44 minutes long game with 6-4, 1-6 and 16-14 scorelines.
