Djokovic grows his legend in Australia

Novak Djokovic made history again in Melbourne. The Serbian tennis player once again wrote his name in gold letters by winning his tenth Australian Open after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets (6-3, 7-6 and 7-6). A match in process and dominated from start to finish by the tennis player from Belgrade, who has played ten finals in Australia and has won all of them, leaving an aura of invincibility that will never be seen again in any player.

Not even Rafa Nadal in the Phillipe Chatrier at Roland Garros has such a devastating statistic as Djokovic at the Rod Laver Arena. The Serbian will also be number one in the world from today to the detriment of Carlos Alcaraz, who will drop to second place in the ranking. Tsitsipas, who was also playing number one, is placed third.

With the achievement of the tournament on Australian soil, Djokovic equals Rafa Nadal in number of Grand Slams, with 22. For the Serbian, the breakdown of greats is made up of ten Australian Opens, seven Wimbledon trophies, three at the US Open and two at Roland Garros. Instead, the Spanish has 14 Roland Garros, four US Open, two Wimbledon and two Australian Open.

The fight to be the best in history is at its peak, with both tennis players in the twilight of their careers and with their eyes set on the next Grand Slams, which will be decisive in finding out which side the balance falls on. Gone is what for some has been the best tennis player in history, Roger Federer, who with his 20 Grand Slams is on the third step of the podium in terms of major tournaments.

For Nadal, the main options to enlarge his Grand Slams showcase go through Roland Garros, but to do so he must physically recover from his iliac psoas injury, something unfortunately normal for the Spaniard, who has had to deal with this situation many times. in a career that has been hampered by physical discomfort.

While Djokovic, physically better and with the boost of morale that winning his tenth Australian Open means, has great options at Wimbledon and at the US Open, where he will be the top seed, without being left out of the equation at Roland Garros, where he has won twice. The Serbian, a year younger than Nadal and less physically diminished, has everything in store to end his career as the tennis player with the most Grand Slams in his showcases and therefore, be considered the best of all time, at least in the numerical

His 22nd Grand Slam comes for Djokovic after his most difficult year as a tennis player, especially off the courts. The Serb did not play the 2022 Australian Open when he was deported from the country for not being vaccinated against Covid-19. Initially he was granted a medical exemption, but upon his arrival in Melbourne he was detained and later deported on health grounds. Djokovic came to that tournament also as the top favorite for the title. Whims of fate, that Australian Open ended up conquering Rafa Nadal. He also did not participate in the US Open won by Carlos Alcaraz for the same reason.

Decaffeinated finish

With the fight for the Grand Slams and the number one in the world at stake, Djokovic, from less to more in the tournament, jumped to the Rod Laver Arena without the bulky bandage on his left thigh that has accompanied him throughout the championship, in a possible declaration of intent that those discomforts in the hamstring would not be an excuse for not going with everything to the final. It didn’t take long for the Serbian to break Tsitsipas’ serve. In the fourth game of the first set, he managed to wrest the serve from her and maintained that advantage to take the first set 6-3.

The second set was different. The Greek raised the level and everything was decided in the ‘tie-break’, where Djokovic, who had some doubts and even saved two set points for the Greek, was more successful to take the second set and put the final on track in his favor . Tsitsipas, who had the options for him, failed again in the mental aspect when he could hold on to the match.

The third set followed the path of the second, with both players very solid with their serves and few unforced errors. It was decided again in another ‘tie-break’ in which Djokovic again surpassed Tsitsipas psychologically to close the final in less than three hours. It is the second Grand Slam final that the Greek has lost to the Serb and the balance between them is 11-2 in favor of the Belgrade tennis player.

In total, 28 consecutive victories for Djokovic in Australia and undefeated in the first Grand Slam of the year since 2018. A fact that sums up the oceanic hegemony of the Serb, who has in his hand to be the most successful tennis player in history.