Brawling fans, scorching weather, the longest match in the tournament's history and some inspirational tennis — the Australian Open kicked off the season with a bang.

In the end, the championships belonged to Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, with a number of fancied players failing to live up to their reputations, including British fourth seed Andy Murray and women's top seed Jelena Jankovic.

Organisers had been keen to avoid the ugly ethnic clashes that marred the event in 2007 and 2008 but despite unprecedented security the tournament was again marred by more of the same.

It all kicked off on the first Friday when dozens of Serbian and Bosnian fans clashed after Novak Djokovic's win over Amer Delic, hurling plastic chairs and aiming punches and kicks at each other and leaving one woman injured.

The scenes sparked strong condemnation from players with organisers breathing a sigh of relief that the violence was quickly nipped in the bud and didn't happen again.

Searing heat was another big problem that impacted the tournament with the city sweltering in its worst heatwave in a century.

Organisers were criticised by several star players for failing to close the roof of the main arenas as the temperatures topped 40 C (104 F).

"When you see the forecast, like it's going to be 41 today, 43 tomorrow, the hottest week in a month, why not close the roof? Not only for the players, but for the spectators as well," said Elena Dementieva.

Tournament director Craig Tiley conceded the rules may be revised for next year.

On top of that, the scheduling of matches late at night was also condemned.

Several matches started after 11pm, with players like Marcos Baghdatis and Fernando Verdasco saying it was exhausting to play into the early hours of the morning then back up for another round of matches.

One of the matches to finish in the early hours of the morning was Nadal's classic semifinal with Verdasco, which at five hours and 14 minutes was the longest in the tournament's history.

Nadal said he was shattered afterwards but showed few signs of his exhaustion when he returned to win a gripping final against arch-rival Roger Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-2.

Emotions ran high

It was the Spaniard's first hard-court Grand Slam title and it prevented Federer equalling the all-time Majors record of 14.

"Sorry for today. But remember you are a great champion, you are one of the best in history and you're going to improve the 14 of Sampras," said Nadal after an emotional Federer broke down as he received his runner up dish.

"To receive this trophy from Rod Laver is a dream come true for me," added Nadal. "It was an amazing two weeks for me."

Among the women, Jankovic and her Serbian colleague Ana Ivanovic failed to live up to the hype, while Venus Williams was also an early casualty.

Instead, it was left to Serena Williams to again show that she belongs among the all-time greats, claiming her 10th Grand Slam final in a one-sided 6-0, 6-3 rout of Russia's Dinara Safina.

After an unimpressive run to the final Williams left her awesome best till last, joining the likes of Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova as one of an elite group of women to win 10 Grand Slams.

"I definitely think it was one of my most dominant performances, especially considering it was a final. I was able to just lift the level of my game," she said.

While Williams was making headlines for her fourth title here, the tournament will also be remembered for the re-emergence of Australia's Jelena Dokic.

She made the quarterfinals as a wildcard after being out of the game for years following severe depression and problems with her father, providing the tournament with its feel-good story.

Despite the ethnic clashes and concern over heat and scheduling, many players rate the Open as their favourite Grand Slam and praise generally rang loudly.

With the city intent on keeping the tournament when its contract runs out in 2016, a major revamp of Melbourne Park was announced, including a roof on Margaret Court Arena and improved spectator, player and media facilities.

AFP

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