Novak Djokovic successfully defended his title after he defeated Rafael Nadal in the longest grand slam final in history.

Kim Clijsters was the defending champion for the women's singles, but lost to Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals.

Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova for her first Grand Slam title; and over took Caroline Wozniacki as the number one ranked player on the WTA Tour.

[1] For the first time Hawk-Eye ball tracking system was used on the Margaret Court Arena,[2] while Ken Fletcher was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.

The 2012 Australian Open was the richest Grand Slam tournament in history, with the singles champions pocketing 2.3 million dollars.

Novak Djokovic was the defending champion[10] and won in the final 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5 against Rafael Nadal entering the season as reigning world number 1 for the first time of his career.

It was the longest match in the history of the Australian Open, and in fact, the longest ever singles final in the Open Era in Grand Slam history; clocked at 5 hours and 53 minutes and ending after midnight with Nadal memorable saying after the match "good morning.

[12] Championship match result Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5 Victoria Azarenka won her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first Belarusian player to win a Grand Slam in singles, by defeating Maria Sharapova in the final.