After an exhausting 5 hours and 24 minutes on court inside Rod Laver Arena, Nadal prevailed in five sets 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in a match that did not finish until just after 1am AEDT.
It was the second-longest Australian Open final after Nadal's five-set loss to Novak Djokovic in 2012, when the Serb won in 5 hours and 53 minutes.
The victory moves Nadal ahead of his great rivals Djokovic and Roger Federer to the top of the men's all-time major winners list.
The 'Big Three" had all sat on 20 wins prior to the Australian Open.
