MELBOURNE, Australia – Shirtless in Rod Laver Arena at 1:38 Monday morning, Novak Djokovic screamed with release and delight in the direction of his supporters. And who could begrudge him the celebration?

It had required five sets and the longest Grand Slam men’s singles final in history, but Djokovic finally managed to win his third straight Grand Slam singles title on a Sunday night that turned into a Monday morning in Melbourne. Djokovic did it by defeating the same determined but ultimately frustrated opponent, Rafael Nadal, in an Australian Open final that will rank as one of the greatest matches in the long history of tennis.

Djokovic, the No. 1 seed, required a record 5 hours and 53 minutes to defeat the second-seeded Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5.

But numbers, and there were plenty of them, do not sum up the depth and emotional power of this marathon: the latest joint effort in a golden era in the men’s game which has repeatedly matched strength against strength.

For now, there can be no doubt that Djokovic, the bristle-haired 24-year-old from Serbia, is the strongest. In the last seven months, he and Nadal have played for the trophy at Wimbledon, the United States Open and now the Australian Open. Djokovic has won every final and has now beaten Nadal, the Spaniard who is one of the supreme competitors in the sport’s long history, seven times in a row over all.

Djokovic had to rally on Sunday to defend his title in Melbourne but after an edgy first set, he gradually found his intimidating range, even though there was so much more tennis to play.

It was the fifth Grand Slam singles title for the elastic-limbed Djokovic, and he has now won four of the last five major tournaments contested, the only loss in that stretch coming in the semifinals of last year’s French Open against Roger Federer.

The previous record time for a Grand Slam final was 4 hours and 54 minutes in the 1988 United States Open match in which Mats Wilander topped Ivan Lendl.