The 2012 Australian Open Men's Singles final was the championship tennis match of the men's singles tournament at the 2012 Australian Open between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, at the time ranked the number 1 and 2 players in the world, respectively.

It was both the longest Australian Open match and the longest major final match (by duration) in history, lasting 5 hours 53 minutes, overtaking the record previously set by the 1988 US Open final between Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl.

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] With both players at their highest levels, the match was regarded as a war of attrition with impeccable quality throughout the duration of play.

4 and Australian Open runner-up of the previous two years, Andy Murray, which also went five sets, lasting 4 hours and 50 minutes.

7 in the world, in a match lasting over four hours, and then defeated former four-time Australian Open titlist Roger Federer in the semifinals in four sets, who was No.

[21][23] Heading into the final, Nadal was attempting to avoid becoming the first man to lose three consecutive major finals in the Open Era, while Djokovic was aiming to become the fifth man after Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Federer and Nadal to win three majors in a row.

[24] Nadal won the first set 7–5, gaining a break of serve after a long attritional battle.

In this set, Djokovic dropped only two points on serve and broke again in game eight with a crushing forehand to lead for the first time.

[10] At the time, it was Nadal's second loss in a Grand Slam match after winning the first set, with his then record slipping to 133–2.

[24] As a result of the loss, Nadal became the first man to lose three consecutive Grand Slam finals in the Open Era, all to Djokovic.

[35] Djokovic said, "It was obvious on the court for everybody who has watched the match that both of us, physically, we took the last drop of energy that we had from our bodies, we made history tonight and unfortunately there couldn't be two winners".