It lasted just under 6 hours and finished in the early hours of the morning but Novak Djokovic is the Australian Open Champion after a 5 set win over Rafael Nadal.

Nadal took the 1st set before momentum swung back Djokovic's way.It looked like ending in 4 before Nadal dragged it into a 5th.

The 24 year old Serb eventually wrapped it up5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 and he was very quick to heap praise on his exhausted opponent

"Raffa, you are one of the best players ever, you're one of the most respected guys on the tour. We made history tonight and unfortuntely there could not be two winners... but I wish you all the best this season and I hope that we will have many more matches like this, many more finals."

As always Rafa was gracious in defeat.

"The first thing that I have to say is congratulations to Novak, his team, they deserve it, they are doing something fantastic so congratulations."

The match is officialy the longest ever Grand Slam final.

Photo:Getty/Getty Images Sport/Cameron Spencer/Staff