But after a break of serve apiece, Nalbandian dominated the tie-break and took it with a sweeping forehand pass.
In total, Stepanek and Karlovic played out 81 games before the first break of serve at 14-14 in the decider.
Britain's Murray twice trailed by a break of serve in the opening set but recovered to record a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win.
The Swiss saved seven of those break opportunities, including five in the first set, but managed just a solitary break of serve himself.
Within a few minutes, though, he was trailing Juan Carlos Ferrero a former No. 1 by a break of serve and missing many a forehand.
Robson, a semi-finalist last year, was pushed hard by her American opponent, with a single break of serve proving enough to win the opening set.
The British number three took the first set courtesy of a single break of serve with a run of three games in a row from 4-3 down.
Late in the second set, with Nadal serving at 4-6, 4-3 up a break of serve but down a set the two engaged in the best point of the night.
An understandably nervous-looking Soderling, contesting his first Grand Slam final, went wide once and long twice before double-faulting to give his opponent an effortless break of serve in game one.
And the same patient baseline approach drew another break of serve in game four of the third set, before the match was wrapped up when Youzhny put a forehand long.
Stephens did not make the best possible start as Williams went one set and a break of serve ahead, before the 19-year-old American dug deep to pull out an unlikely triumph.
Murray and Kohlschreiber had never met before but the world number four soon asserted himself by grabbing a break of serve in just the fourth game before winning his next service to love and race into a 4-1 lead.
But one break of serve saw a nervy-looking Murray concede the first set and, although he hit back in the second, three break points went begging in game one of the third set, which Roddick went on to take on a tie-break.
It was a similar story in the second set as the power of Williams began to wear down her opponent and a break of serve in the opening game of the second set saw her firmly on the way to the last 32.
Along with the venomous groundstrokes, Nadal's ability to retrieve lost causes kept Djokovic under constant pressure and a seventh break of his serve enabled the defending champion to establish a 2-0 lead in the third set.
"I had a lot of chances to break his serve, " Ferrer said of his latest Federer defeat.
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By this point, Federer and Allegro, who is ranked inside the world's top 50 in doubles, seemed to have broken down the British resistance with a crucial early fourth-set break of Murray's serve.
Nadal required just 65 minutes to defeat Ferrer, winning 81% of his first serve points, while saving both of the break points he faced.
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Mauresmo held serve for the first time and then had three break points on the Safina serve - converting the last of them to get right back into the contest.
The second set was an even quicker affair, Federer forcing Becker into a wild forehand to break the German's serve again in the third game of the second set.
Set two followed in similar fashion but at 3-3 the serve of Bhuphati faltered and his opponents pounced to break.
The first set went with the serve until the tie-break, but Safin dominated the rest of the match to give Russia the perfect start.
Nadal created the first break point of the match in the third game but Daniel pulled out a big serve to see off the threat.
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Rubin, though, stuck boldly to her task and dragged it back to 4-4 - only for her 30-year-old rival to break her again in by far the longest game of the match and then comfortably hold serve to clinch victory.
After more downpours forced the players off for an hour in game two of the third set, Federer returned with renewed vigour to break in game three and serve out the match after some dogged resistance from Falla.
The second set was a lot tighter, and featured four breaks of serve, but Djokovic retained his composure to comfortably win the tie-break and earn the 37th title of his career and his 14th at Masters level -- eight behind Nadal's leading 22.
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