The Australian Open is the opening Grand Slam of the calendar year and it has thrown up plenty of long and memorable matches over the years.
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have all been involved in some epic encounters at Melbourne Park, but what has been the longest match ever played at the tournament?
This 2009 semi-final was an all-Spanish affair between Nadal, who was chasing his first Australian Open title, and Verdasco, who was through to the final four of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Nadal was the overwhelming favourite having not dropped a set en route to the semi-finals, but he was pushed all the way by Verdasco, who took the opener via a tiebreak.
Winning the next two, Nadal appeared to have taken control, but back came Verdasco, who despite nursing cramp and requiring the trainer, was able to take the fourth, again on a tiebreak.
With the local time ticking past midnight, Nadal eventually prevailed in the decider, coming through 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.
The King of Clay went on to beat old foe Roger Federer in the final in another five-set thriller and he ended his career with 22 Grand Slam singles titles. For Verdasco, this would prove his one and only appearance in the semi-finals of one of the big four events.
This first-round match in 2017 is not only one of the longest in Australian Open history, but it is also the one featuring the most games since the introduction of tiebreaks, with 84 played across the five sets.
Unseeded Argentine Zeballos surprisingly took the first two sets against 20th seed Karlovic, who was renowned for his height - he was 6 ft 11 in - as well as his big serve.
Karlovic put that serve to good use by taking the next two sets to force a decider, but the two men took some separating during the fifth, with the Croatian sealing the win in the 42nd game of the set to prevail 6-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 22-20.
Perhaps surprisingly, Karlovic was able to muster enough energy to win his next match in straight sets against Andrew Whittington before losing to David Goffin in the third round.
The Australian Open, perhaps influenced by this match, introduced final-set tiebreaks two years later to put an end to such mammoth contests.
After winning the Australian Open in 2009, Nadal had gone on to lose four further finals in Melbourne, so he would have been determined to avoid a fifth defeat in the showpiece match when he took on Medvedev in the 2022 final.
However, the omens were not good for Nadal, who lost the opening two sets, but the match turned on its head after he saved three break points during the third, with the Spaniard battling back to prevail 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Not only was this one of the longest matches in Australian Open history - it did not conclude until 01:11 local time - but it also saw Nadal become the first male player to win 21 Grand Slam singles titles - he would make it 22 at the French Open later that same year.
He may have been at the tail end of his career with injuries having taken their toll, but British star Murray certainly left his mark on the Australian Open in 2023, winning two five-set epics, the latter in the second round against home favourite Kokkinakis making it onto this list.
Having already seen off former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in five sets in round one, this looked a step too far for Murray, who lost the opening two sets, but he rallied and showed plenty of his famous grit to take the next two.
The Scot then held his nerve in the decider to prevail 4-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a match that did not finish until 04:06 in the morning and was the longest of his illustrious career.
The win was also the 11th time that Murray had come from two sets down to win a match. Unsurprisingly he could not sustain his run in the third round, losing to Roberto Bautista Agut, and his victory over Kokkinakis proved to be his final win at the Australian Open.
Fittingly, the longest match in Australian Open and indeed Grand Slam final history involves Nadal and his 2012 epic with Djokovic.
Both men were already multiple Grand Slam winners by this point and had met in the previous two finals at the US Open and Wimbledon - Djokovic winning both - so it was no surprise that this went the distance.
It was Nadal that looked to be in pole position to clinch the victory, as he led 4-2 in the fifth - but Djokovic dug deep to win five of the next six games to clinch what was then his fifth Grand Slam success and third in Australia, coming through 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7, 7–5.
The two would go on to meet in a further five Grand Slam finals - including back in Melbourne in 2019 - but this arguably will go down as their greatest ever showdown.