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Daniil Medvedev becomes a two-time member of an exclusive club after Jannik Sinner's miraculous comeback.
Here are five quick hits from the final day at Melbourne Park.
1. Shanks a million
When Daniil Medvedev was mounting his own comeback from two sets down in his semifinal against Alex Zverev, at 5-5 in the fourth-set tiebreak, Medvedev mis-hit a return that floated over the net for the perfect drop shot.
It put him on his merry way to winning the tiebreak and completing the revival in the fifth set, and when asked about the shot, he said with a smile: "Sometimes you need to be lucky and today's my day."
His words proved an unfortunate portent of things to come two days later, when it swung the other way.
With Sinner surging in the fifth set and playing the second of three break points at 3-2 and 15-40, the Italian took a forehand swipe at a high second serve.
It sailed behind Medvedev and deep into the forehand corner, giving Sinner the ascendancy in the pivotal point, which he converted and never looked back.
Four-time major winner Jim Courier described it as "a shank" in commentary, which was perhaps overstating things, and said: "That good fortune might make him a major champion."
Of course it's not so simple, and Sinner played plenty of other clutch points in the miraculous comeback driven by nothing but skill, determination and remarkable composure.
Sinner fought off a break point and served three timely aces with the match teetering at 3-3 in the fourth set, and at 30-30 in the opening game of the fifth he won a 39-shot rally that sapped Medvedev's energy, then held his serve with a gutsy second-serve ace.
But a little luck always helps in such a tense match where the margins are razor thin.
2. Ending an Italian drought
The women have been flying the flag alone for Italy for decades.
Francesca Schiavone's 2010 French Open win (over Aussie Sam Stosur) and Flavia Pennetta's shock win over countrywoman Roberta Vinci in the 2015 US Open final were all Italy had to show for almost 50 years' worth of grand slams.
The trio also helped Italy lift the Fed Cup (now known as the Billie Jean King Cup) four times from 2006 to 2013.
But the last time an Italian man lifted one of the major trophies was 48 years ago, when Adriano Pannatta beat American Harold Solomon to the 1976 French Open crown.
In the same year, he guided his country to a Davis Cup win.
In much the same way, Sinner led Italy's charge to last year's Davis Cup crown over Australia, beating Novak Djokovic and Serbia in the semis before accounting for Australia's number one, Alex de Minaur, in the final.
Now he has emulated Pannatta in winning his first major, and became the first Italian man or woman to win an Australian Open singles crown.
3. All in a day's work
No-one has ever spent more time on court than Daniil Medvedev in a single grand slam tournament.
The Russian's game clock ticked over a full day during the fifth set of the final, ending on 24 hours and 17 minutes after a three-hour-and-44-minute marathon effort.
Medvedev also played a grand slam record 31 sets in Melbourne, although one of them was cut short by an injury withdrawal by Terence Atmane in the first round.
The final was Medvedev's fourth five-setter of the tournament, with Sinner flipping the script on the third seed, who came back from two sets down to beat Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round and Alex Zverev in the semifinal.
And speaking of losing from two sets up…
4. Daniil's deja vu
Not many people lose tennis matches after winning the first two sets.
Only seven have done it in a grand slam final in the Open era.
Coincidentally, two of them had the last name Medvedev (Andrei and Daniil).
But only one man has had it happen to him twice. And at the same slam, two years apart no less.
Daniil Medvedev won the first two sets against Rafael Nadal two years ago, only for the Spanish legend to storm back and win in five sets after five hours and 24 minutes.
Medvedev is now 1-5 in major finals, but this is the first time he's lost to someone other than Nadal or Novak Djokovic.
It's his third loss in the Australian Open in the past four years, matching Andy Murray's effort from 2010, 2011 and 2013. (Ominously, Murray made two more Aussie finals without lifting the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.)
Medvedev also lost his first slam final in different but similarly heartbreaking fashion, coming back from two sets down to force a fifth, only to lose to Nadal at the 2019 US Open.
5. Hsieh and Mertens claim women's double crown
Hsieh Su-Wei will leave Melbourne Park with two trophies after the ageless Chinese Taipei star added the Australian Open women's doubles title to her haul.
Already the winner of the mixed doubles crown with Polish partner Jan Zielinski, Hsieh combined with Belgian Elise Mertens on Sunday at Rod Laver Arena to win the women's mantle.
The duo were a class above 11th seeds Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the world number 10 in the singles, and Lyudmyla Kichenok from Ukraine, winning 6-1, 7-5.
"It was a really tough final, the second set was really close," second-seeded Mertens said
"It was a really great match for us, we really had to stay focused all the time."
Already the owner of seven women's doubles crowns, including Wimbledon on four occasions, this is Hsieh's first major in Melbourne after also reaching the final in 2020.
Hsieh became a crowd favourite at Melbourne Park back in 2021 when she made an unlikely run to the singles quarterfinals before being eliminated by eventual champion Naomi Osaka.
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