Australian Open 2025 kicks off: Remembering epic battles and fleeting duels at Melbourne Park

The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, has witnessed some of the most exciting and amazing moments in the history of tennis. The 'Happy Slam', with Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams as the biggest winners of the modern era, opens its doors and in TennisUpToDate we tell you what have been the longest and the shortest matches in the recent history of the tournament.

Memorable Matches: Extreme Records

True tennis fans will probably not be surprised to learn that the longest match ever played in Australia was the 2012 men's final. Back then Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic met in the deciding match and kept the crowd on the edge of their seats for almost 6 hours of play.

Specifically, the match lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes of high voltage tennis. The battle left incredible points and lots of dramatic moments. In the end, it would be Novak Djokovic who would be crowned champion after defeating the Spaniard 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5) and 7-5.

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The duel became one of the favorites of all tennis fans who were able to see two of the greatest players of all time face each other in a battle in which they left body and heart on the court.

The ladies were not far behind; exactly one year before the epic between Rafa and Nole, Svetlana Kuznetsova faced Italian Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round of the tournament. Both players starred in an epic encounter that would end up being the longest in the history of women's tennis Grand Slam tournaments. Schiavone, seeded 6th at the time, took an incredible victory over her Russian opponent, who at the time was ranked 23rd in the world. The final score was 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 after 4 hours and 44 minutes. Schiavone would end her way in that edition of the tournament in the quarterfinals at the hands of world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki, showing obvious signs of fatigue after her marathon round of 16 match.

Another long duel was the one between Andy Roddick and the Moroccan Younes El Ayanoui in 2003. On this occasion it was Roddick who would secure the pass to the next round in a true match that ended 21-19 in favor of the American, who later that year would win the US Open and close his campaign as world number 1.

On the other hand, Andre Agassi starred that same year in the shortest men's final of the open era. In the decisive match, the Las Vegas native lifted the trophy after defeating German Rainer Schuttler in one hour and 16 minutes by 6-2, 6-2 and 6-1. It was the last major tournament for the former world No. 1.

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