Australian Open tennis is a pressure cooker. Most players fly across the globe during the offseason to go full-force into this intense competition. Winners of the Australian Open men’s tennis tournament deserve respect for maintaining their offseason conditioning in preparation for January – which is no easy feat.

See which players not only made the finals but were also part of epic championship duels in this Betway Insider top 10 ranking of the greatest Australian Open men’s singles finals of all time.

When is the Australian Open men’s singles final 2024?

The 2024 Australian Open men’s singles final will take place on Sunday, Jan. 28.

What time is the Australian Open men’s final?

The 2024 Australian Open men’s singles final will be played at 7 p.m., Australian local time, which is 3 a.m. ET in the United States.

Australian Open Men’s Finals History

Want some Australian Open men’s finals history? Here are three men who have defined most of it in the 21st century: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. Members of this trio have appeared in numerous finals in recent years.

Players in the Australian Open Hall of Fame from the earlier years include Aussies Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.

Who has won the most Australian Open men’s singles titles?

Novak Djokovic has the most Australian Open titles with 10. Other notable Australian Open men’s winners include Roger Federer with six championships and Andre Agassi with four.

Ranking the Top 10 Greatest Australian Open Men’s Finals of All Time

10. No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeats No. 5 Andy Murray in 2011

Match Result: 6-4, 6-2, 6-3

The 2011 men’s final is the encapsulation of Novak Djokovic’s dream season and the point when he transitioned from an interesting player to one of the best of all time. He entered the tournament as the  No. 3 seed but proceeded to drop just a single set in the whole tournament (to an unseeded player in the second round, no less).

Djokovic beat No. 2 Roger Federer in straight sets in the semifinals before ousting No. 5 Andy Murray hastily in the finals, triumphing 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. This was the first major in a spell of four-in-five for Djokovic, vaulting him from the world No. 3 to the world No. 1 ranking.

9. No. 1 Roy Emerson defeats No. 2 Fred Stolle in 1965

Match Result: 7-9, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1

Two Australians faced off in an epic 1965 Australian Championships final. The tournament’s top seed, Roy Emerson, had won two straight titles and three in the previous four years. Who would end up being his victim in the 1964 final? It was fellow Aussie Fred Stolle.

Stolle lost three Grand Slam event finals in 1964 and was looking to start his 1965 campaign on the right foot. Everything seemed to be going to plan after he stormed through the first two sets and was up 2-0. However, Emerson survived close sets in both the third and fourth before running away with the match in the fifth.

8. Fred Alexander defeats Alfred Dunlop in 1908

Match Result: 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-3

Who was the first American man to win the Australian Open? The answer to that trivia question is Fred Alexander, who won the title all the way back in 1908, when the tournament was still known as the Australasian Championships. Alexander was the reigning U.S. Open champion and one of the most talented American players in the early part of the 20th century.

Alexander beat three Australians in a row before getting a date with a fourth Aussie, Alfred Dunlop, in the final. Dunlop, who was also looking for his first Australian crown, surged to a two-set lead before a 6-0 Alexander romp in the third set shifted the momentum of the match. The American went on to capture his first and only Australian Open title.

7. No. 4 Stefan Edberg defeats No. 11 Pat Cash in 1987

Match Result: 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3

Former Swedish world No. 1 Stefan Edberg won the Australian Open by beating countryman Mats Wilander in the December 1985 final. There was technically no tournament during the 1986 calendar year because what had been a December schedule for 10 years was moved to January. As a result, Edberg had to wait one extra month to defend his title.

He would face the No. 11 seed, Australian Pat Cash, in the final. Australia dominated its own Open for the greater part of the pre-1968 “Amateur Era,” but no Aussie man had won the title since Mark Edmondson in 1976. The time seemed to be right.

Edberg won the first two sets but dropped the third and fourth. He then rallied to win the fifth set, spoiling the Australian party. Local fans were upset, and Cash would have to wait for another chance.

6. No. 3 Mats Wilander defeats No. 4 Pat Cash in 1988

Match Result: 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 3-6, 6-1, 8-6

Host-nation hero Pat Cash returned to the Australian Open final just one year after losing it to Stefan Edberg in five sets. By 1988, Cash had moved up to the world’s No. 4 ranking. He would face another Swede, No. 3 Mats Wilander, in the first Australian Open final held on hard courts in the tournament’s new (and current) venue at Melbourne Park.

"Australian tennis deserves to be congratulated," tennis star Ivan Lendl said of the new venue.

Cash again found himself in a five-set affair, this time tied 6-6 in the fifth set. Wilander was playing the best tennis of his life, fresh off two bitter final-round losses in 1987. He would triumph 8-6 in the fifth set and ride his momentum to wins at both the French Open and U.S. Open – the two tournaments where he had lost in the finals during the previous year.

5. No. 3 Rod Laver defeats No. 1 Neale Fraser in 1960

Match Result: 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6, 8-6

Here we have yet another comeback from a two-set deficit. It feels as if the Australian Open has more of these than other majors, doesn’t it? In 1960, the spotlight was shining on future world No. 1 Rod Laver, a 21-year-old Australian who had yet to win a Grand Slam event.

In the final, Laver would face the reigning world No. 1, fellow Australian Neale Fraser, who was fresh off victories at both the 1960 Wimbledon tournament and 1960 U.S. Open.

Fraser comfortably won the first two sets before running into trouble in the third. The match would sit 6-6 in both the fourth and fifth sets before Laver secured late breaks to claim the first of his nine Grand Slam tournament titles.

4. No. 1 Rafael Nadal defeats No. 2 Roger Federer in 2009

Match Result:  7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-2

Welcome to the 21st-century portion of this list, where three of the greatest players in tennis history (Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic) are responsible for almost all the Australian Open championships.

We’ll begin with Nadal’s famous victory over Federer in 2009, when the two rivals met for the seventh time in a major tournament final. The pair were coming off an epic 2008 championship match at Wimbledon, where Nadal narrowly won.

The Spaniard would again get the best out of the Swiss star in Australia to win his first Grand Slam event on hard courts. An exhausted Federer fell apart in the fifth set with double-faults and a long forehand to end the match.

“I don't want to have the last word, this guy deserves that,” Federer tearily announced to the crowd following the loss.

3. No. 6 Rafael Nadal defeats No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in 2022

Match Result: 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5

The longest gap by one player between two Australian Open championships was 13 years. That’s how much time separated Rafael Nadal’s 2009 and 2022 Australian Open victories. His two-set comeback over No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in 2022 gave the Spaniard his 21st major title and a double career Grand Slam.

Novak Djokovic didn’t compete in the 2022 tournament due to a visa issue, leaving the field wide open for a new (or old) champion. In the final, Nadal would face the Russian Medvedev, one of the best hard-court players of the 2020s. After falling behind by two sets, Nadal would remarkably escape close battles in the third through fifth to claim the victory.

“I give it everything that I have inside, believe me. I am super, super-tired in all ways. I can't even celebrate. But was the day to give everything, no? I enjoyed. I enjoyed the fight. I enjoyed the emotions. At the end having this trophy with me means everything today, no?” Nadal said after the match.

2. No. 17 Roger Federer defeats No. 9 Rafael Nadal in 2017

Match Result: 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

The chance to see a pair of aging legends square off just one more time on one of tennis’ biggest stages -- exchanging blows in legendary fashion – was a thrill for tennis fans everywhere.

At the 2017 Australian Open, two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic inexplicably lost to Denis Istomin in the second round. That opened the door for what would be the last Grand Slam event finals meeting between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who could feel the weight of the occasion.

“The magnitude of this match is going to feel different. I can't compare this one to any other one except for maybe the French Open in 2009,” Federer said before the match. “I waited for the French Open, I tried, I fought. I tried again and failed. Eventually, I made it. This feels similar, yeah.”

The pair exchanged sets but it would be Federer who would come out on top.

1. No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeats No. 2 Rafael Nadal in 2012

Match Result: 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5

Was this the greatest match in Australian Open history? Here are some points that make that case:

• It pitted the world No. 1 (Novak Djokovic) against the world No. 2 (Rafael Nadal).
• It took place when both players were at the top of their game.
• It was the longest major final ever (5 hours, 53 minutes) .
• It was tied 5-5 in the fifth set.

Yes, 2012 was the best Australian Open men’s final of all time -- one that tennis fans will never forget.

Parameters of Rankings

These rankings are based on the performances of each player involved, each player’s tennis legacy, the length of the match, and the match’s significance in Australian Open history.

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