Five-set Grand Slam finals are increasingly rare. The top of the men's game for most of the 2010s and 2020s has been dominated by a small number of players who tend to either win in straight sets or lose in four. When a Grand Slam final does go to five sets — both players holding their level for four or more hours at the absolute highest stakes — it tends to be remembered as one of the great matches of the era. Here are six from the last decade-plus that earned that status.
Federer def. Nadal — Australian Open 2017
Score: 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Federer's first slam in nearly five years, his first over Nadal in a slam final in over a decade, and one of the most emotionally satisfying matches of either player's career. Federer was a 17-seed, having spent six months out with a knee injury. Nadal had also been coming back from injury and was unseeded as low as he had been at a slam in fifteen years.
The match itself had the strange shape of two players who knew each other's games perfectly playing at their physical limits. Federer was 1-3 down in the fifth set and broke serve twice in a row to win it 6-3. The post-match coverage essentially declared the modern era reborn.
Djokovic def. Federer — Wimbledon 2019
Score: 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13-12. Until the rule change, the only way to break a fifth-set deadlock at Wimbledon was to keep playing forever. This was the year they introduced the 12-12 tiebreak. The final was the first match it was used in. Federer served for the match twice, at 8-7 and at 40-15. Two championship points came and went. Djokovic won the tiebreak 7-3, taking the deciding set 13-12.
The total match was 4 hours and 57 minutes — the longest Wimbledon men's final ever. Both players hit over 90 winners. It was, by some measures, the most high-quality five-set match between two players of that level ever played. Federer never won another slam.
Thiem def. Zverev — US Open 2020
Score: 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. Played in front of an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium during the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the first Grand Slam final of the modern era where neither finalist was Djokovic, Nadal, or Federer. Both players were 21–27, both were going for their first slam, and the pressure showed: Thiem was down two sets to none and visibly cramping by the fifth, while Zverev held a break lead in the fifth set and let it slip.
Thiem won the deciding tiebreak 8-6 and collapsed on the court. It was his only Grand Slam title. The match remains the most recent men's slam final won by a player coming back from two sets down.
Djokovic def. Tsitsipas — Roland Garros 2021
Score: 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Tsitsipas led by two sets and a break in the third, looking for his first slam. Djokovic flipped the match completely from there, breaking back, taking the third in three games on the trot, and dominating the last two sets. It was the second of his two career slams won from two sets down.
For Tsitsipas, the match remains the closest he has come to a Grand Slam title. The final was Djokovic's nineteenth and pulled him within one of Nadal's and Federer's totals at the time.
Alcaraz def. Djokovic — Wimbledon 2023
Score: 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Alcaraz's first Wimbledon, against the seven-time champion, in a match that lasted just under five hours. After losing the first set in 34 minutes, Alcaraz won an extraordinary 26-minute fifth game of the third set that ran to seven deuces and seemed to end the match before it really started. Djokovic took the fourth set after a coaching adjustment, but could not break Alcaraz's serve in the fifth.
The match is often described as the moment of generational handover. Djokovic had won 33 of his previous 34 matches at Wimbledon. Alcaraz, at 20, became the youngest Wimbledon champion since Boris Becker.
Alcaraz def. Sinner — Roland Garros 2025
Score: 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-5. The longest Roland Garros final ever played, clocking in at five hours and 29 minutes. Sinner led by two sets to love and held three championship points in the fourth set tiebreak. Alcaraz saved all three, took the tiebreak 10-3, and broke serve at 5-5 in the fifth.
The match was, in retrospect, the moment that the Alcaraz–Sinner rivalry became the central storyline of men's tennis. They have met in two of the three subsequent Grand Slam finals. The 2025 Roland Garros final is the highest-rated tennis match by quality on most modern ranking systems — both players hit over 70 winners, both reached over 75% first-serve points won at various stretches, and the level held for the entirety of five sets.
What they have in common
These six finals share a few features. All of them featured at least one player coming back from a two-set deficit or saving multiple match points. All of them ran over four hours. All of them are remembered not just for the result but for specific games, specific points, specific moments — the 26-minute game, the fifth-set tiebreak. A great five-set final is not just a long match. It is a long match where the level stays high until the end, which is far rarer than it sounds.