LEAD: Djokovic beats Nadal in marathon to win Australian Open title

By Bill Scott Jan 29, 2012, 15:18 GMT

Melbourne - Novak Djokovic claimed a hat-trick of titles at the Australian Open early Monday as he beat Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 to win his fifth career Grand Slam trophy.

Defeat leaves world number two Nadal as the only man to lose three consecutive finals at a major after going down to his Serb rival at Wimbledon followed by the US Open last season.

The contest lasted five hours 53 minutes, the longest final in Grand Slam history. The previous record was four hours, 54 minutes in 1988 at the US Open when Mats Wilander defeated Ivan Lendl.

Djokovic won three of the four majors in 2011. The champion in Melbourne in 2008 and 2011, has now beaten Nadal in seven consecutive finals.

After more than four hours of play and a minor delay as the roof was closed for rain, the match went to a deciding fifth set. Djokovic came back from a break down, getting it straight back for 3-4 and broke again for 6-5. Djokovic sealed a place among the greats with his winning forehand on a first match point.

It was the first time that the pair of rivals had played a five-set match, with Djokovic standing 14-16 in the heroic series.

'Rafa and I made history tonight,' said Djokovic, who stripped off his shirt and paraded around the court pounding his fist on his heart after the emotional triumph.

'Unfortunately there could not be two winners. I'm sure well will play many more finals.

'My team was fantastic with their support in my professional and private life. Without them, this victory would not be possible. The crowd was so loud that sometimes it did not feel like a tennis court. It's a pleasure to play here.'

Nadal was subdued but dignified in defeat.

'Congratulations to Novak,' said the 10-time Grand Slam winner. 'He and his team did something fantastic. Every year on the tour gets tougher than the last.

'But to start the year with a final like this is still great. I'll never forget this match. Even if I lost it was something special. I'll be back for a lot of years and will keep fighting.'

The match which promised to be a slog was dragged down from the start as two of the slowest men in the game got stuck into their leisurely style. With time-wasting part of the fabric of the final, the first nine games of the 80-minute first set took an hour to play.

Nadal earned and lost a break before finally breaking to take the opener, a set which lasted only two minutes less than the entire women's final of the night before.

The pace barely budged in the second, with Nadal earning a break for 3-1 and looking at levelling with his lead standing 5-2.

Nadal had other ideas, saving a set point in the next game on his own serve for 3-5 and managing more heroics to deny his Serbian opponent on two more Djokovic opportunities. 4-5.

The Spanish second seed was caught by a pass which gave Djokovic another set point, which the number one converted thanks to Nadal's first double-fault of the long evening after nearly two and a half hours on court.

Djokovic picked up the pace in the third set as he began to assert his game, keeping Nadal pinned well back on the baseline with even the Spaniard's massive groundstrokes unable to do damage.

The Serb started the fourth set with a love game and broke for 3-1 before tightening his grip with a concluding break, a forehand winner on the first of three set points for a two-sets-to-love lead.

The drama factor lifted in the fourth set, with rain at the four-hour mark causing a 10-minute delay while the roof of the Rod Laver arena was closed. The delay came after Nadal had begun picking up pace, saving three break points for 4-all.

Nadal lifted his intensity as the set went to a tiebreak, with Djokovi gaining the 5-3 edge. But Nadal levelled at 5-5 as his tiring opponent put a tired volley into the top of the net.

Nadal jumped on his chance, earning a set point with a service winner and levelling the sets at two each as Djokovic committed a third forehand error in the space of a few shots after more than four and a half hours.