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MELBOURNE, Australia — The tennis marathon has already been redefined, in all likelihood for good, by John Isner's victory over Nicolas Mahut in the opening round of Wimbledon in 2010.

How do you top 11 hours, 5 minutes and 70-68 in the fifth set?

But Novak Djokovic of Serbia was certainly feeling second to no one as he bellowed and flexed his bare chest at Rod Laver Arena after a match that ended Monday at 1:37 a.m. Melbourne time.

This was no first-week curiosity shop he had just closed down with his staying power and talent. This was the Australian Open final, his third consecutive major final, and Djokovic had come out on top once more against Spaniard Rafael Nadal, one of the most relentless competitors in tennis history, who is slowly turning into Djokovic's muse.

Plenty of suffering was required to produce tennis art this time.

Djokovic, the No. 1 seed and defending champion, defeated the second-seeded Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, and required 5 hours, 53 minutes to do so. That made this the longest men's singles final at a Grand Slam tournament in recorded history.

"Wimbledon is right up there next to this one, because it's just the tournament that I always dreamed of winning," replied the 24-year-old Djokovic when asked if this was his greatest victory. "But this one I think comes out on the top, because just the fact that we played almost six hours is incredible, incredible."

Numbers do not sum up the emotional power of this duel, which deserves a place among the most riveting matches in the history of the sport.

It was the latest joint venture in a golden age in the men's game that has repeatedly matched strength against strength. For the moment, there can be no doubt the elastic-limbed Djokovic is the strongest.

In the past seven months, he and Nadal have played for the trophy at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. Djokovic has won every final, supplanting Nadal as the game's top player last year and beating him seven times in a row.

"I lost a match, but it was perhaps the final that I lost that hurts the least, because I did all I could," said Nadal, whose career record against Djokovic dropped to 16-14. "I fought with everything I had."

So it seemed as he stared down major trouble in the fourth set and again late in the fifth, but Nadal could not avoid becoming the first man in the Open era — which started in 1968 — to lose three straight major singles finals.

"It was obvious on the court for everybody who has watched the match that both of us, physically, we took the last drop of energy that we had from our bodies," Djokovic said. "I think it was just the matter of maybe luck in some moments and a matter of, you know, wanting this more than maybe the other player in the certain point."

It was the third Australian Open title and fifth Grand Slam tournament singles title for Djokovic. He still is far behind Nadal, who has 10 major titles, and Swiss standout Roger Federer, who has won a record 16.

But Djokovic is on quite a roll and has won four of the last five major tournaments contested, the loss in that stretch coming in the semifinals of last year's French Open against Federer.

Since taking the reins of the men's game, Djokovic has not been pushed quite like this in a major match. The longest major singles final in recorded history had been the 1988 U.S. Open final, as Mats Wilander defeated Ivan Lendl in 4 hours, 54 minutes. This one went nearly an hour longer, and the outcome seemed in doubt until Djokovic's final shot, an inside-out forehand, bounced twice for a winner.

Djokovic needed deep reserves against Nadal, all the more so because Djokovic had required 4 hours, 50 minutes to beat No. 4 Andy Murray of Scotland in the semifinals Friday and had one less day of rest than Nadal before the final.

There will be ample debate about where this final ranks in the historical pecking order, which includes masterpieces such as Bjorn Borg's five-set victory over John McEnroe in the 1980 Wimbledon final or Nadal's five-set victory over Federer on the same patch of grass in the 2008 final.