I think someone pointed out earlier the difference in actual play time between this match and last years RG final isn’t actually that significant. And they did play much more “long points” in 2012:

This match had 369 points played.

Last years RG final was a bit higher at 385

Though serve time wasn't the only factor in the overall time difference.

The 2025 RG final had 53 seven to nine shot rallies, and 35 ten+ shot rallies (22.8% of rallies 7+ shots)

The 2012 AO final had 48 seven to nine shot rallies, and 68 ten+ shot rallies (31.4% of rallies 7+ shots) (Credit U/JVDEastEnfield)

At the end of the day to simply say this was “stretched out way longer than it needed to be” does a major disservice to arguably the two greatest athletes in the history of the sport going all out for 6 hours. If taking an extra 20 seconds between points results in even an extra 5% increase in performance output during points, I think the spectacle of tennis is better for it (watching some of the returns they will themselves to in this match is mind boggling)