There were big hints of a power shift at the top of this Australian Open. There were grueling, long-form semifinals bristling with uncertainty.

But when Friday night had turned into Saturday morning in Melbourne and Novak Djokovic lay spread-eagled on his back with a serene look on his stubbled face, the status quo had been preserved.

Despite Roger Federer’s winning streak and enduring ambition, despite Andy Murray’s improved attitude and new coach Ivan Lendl, the men’s singles final at this Grand Slam tournament will again match Djokovic against Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic defeated Nadal at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, depriving the Spaniard of his No. 1 ranking along the way. Since the Open era began in 1968, the same two men have never met in three consecutive major finals, but Djokovic and Nadal have managed it, and they had to dig deep on consecutive evenings to earn the privilege.

Nadal required four sets and some genre-expanding defense to defeat his arch-rival Federer in four sets on Thursday. Djokovic required five sets, physical reserves and the deep reservoir of self-belief acquired in the last two seasons to keep Murray from ending his major run on Friday.

They played (and played) in Rod Laver Arena, and Laver himself, now 73 years old, stayed until the bittersweet end of both epics. He has good tennis taste.

"Thank you for staying this late, sir,” Djokovic said after midnight to Laver in his post-match remarks on court.

Djokovic’s 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 7-5 victory was the second longest match of the tournament at four hours and 50 minutes: quite a different time line than last year’s final when Djokovic broke Murray’s spirit early and ended up dominating in three sets.