Reliving the 2012 Australian Open men's final

The men’s final of the Australian Open 2012 was nothing short of a spectacle.

The men’s decider of the 2012 Australian Open was supposed to be a gruelling match, but it was a lot more than that.

The top two ranked men’s players squared off on a blue hard court surface to determine whether the number one would again prove himself to the tennis public, or would the number two come through surprise a lot of people, but also himself?

Rafael Nadal of Spain was hoping that, after an extra days rest and a not as tough match as the number one player had, he could shine through and take the crown of the champion of the Grand Slam of the Asia/Pacific.

But, number one player Novak Djokovic of Serbia, being buoyed on by heaps of travelling admirers, was looking forward to holding his own to Nadal, whom he had beaten in the last two Grand Slam finals.

And what a match it was…

The final was sold out in barely any time, with everyone wanting to see what the two best men’s players had to offer.

Not one spectator cared that is was a good lot of money more than it was to see the women’s final, being contested by Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova.

The two players walked on to the court to be met by a rousing reception by every spectator in the famed Rod Laver Arena.

Previous champions walked around the Arena, getting a big clap from everyone who had heard what those men had achieved.

The last man to walk out was the legend, Rod Laver himself, parading in his arena with the prized men’s cup itself, while the man on the loudspeaker read out his achievements, the most important ones being in 1962 in 1969 when he won the two “Grand Slams” that make him so famous to the tennis public today.

Both men warmed up and the match was underway…

Both held their own games until Nadal broke Djokovic and then served for the set. He won it and the score line read: 7-5.

But, Djokovic was still going and came out and levelled the match-up, winning the set: 6-4.

And he kept on going…Djokovic had a new shirt on and that did not affect is game style, winning the next set 6-2 to take a firm hold of the Australian Open cup.

But Nadal, feeling the pressure, came back in the most remarkable way, coming down from an early break and then pushing his way to winning his second set in a tie-breaker.

Now all the ‘tennis heads’, as their called, thought that Rafa would come charging through to win his 11th Grand Slam title, even though the world number one was still playing well.

By the end of that next set, which went for 74 minutes, the world number one with the nick name “The Djoker”, hit the winner that sealed his third Grand Slam title in a row.

He celebrated by ripping off his shirt and celebrated by going and hugging his close family and trainers in his player’s box.

While the presentations were going on, Djokovic and Nadal were so exhausted that they couldn’t even stand, they got chairs to sit down on and a bottle of water each.

Then Djokovic received the cup, made a very normal but nice speech just like Nadal did, and went off and celebrated by kissing that prized little trophy like he did exactly one year ago.

It was another sweet win by Djokovic, some critics even saying that it was the best match ever, and it was a lot better and closer than the women’s final.