An emotional Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday to claim his 10th Australian Open title and equal Rafael Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam crowns, a victory that returned him to world number one.
The Serbian star overcame a hamstring injury and off-court drama as he returned to Melbourne Park to beat Greek third seed Rod Laver 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5). Arena.
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He rose to victory without his father Srdjan in the stands after he caused controversy by posing with a fan carrying a Russian flag featuring Vladimir Putin’s face after his son’s quarter-final win.
Djokovic climbed into the players’ box after the win to hug his mother and fell to the ground in tears.
It was a remarkable comeback by the 35-year-old fourth seed, who missed the tournament last year when he was deported due to his Covid vaccination position. strengthening his stature as an all-time great in Melbourne.
The emphatic victory moved him level with Nadal with a record 22 Slams, two ahead of Roger Federer. The Spanish great was out in the second round with a hip injury, but is aiming to return for another clay-court season and crack at the French Open, and with a 23rd Slam title.
Nadal, though, is set to slide down the rankings when released on Friday, in contrast to Djokovic, who will dethrone the Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz and return to the top for the first time since June, while Tsitsipas will go up one place to three. .
The two returned to the court that helped them become stars. Djokovic won his first Grand Slam in 2008 at Rod Laver Arena while Tsitsipas exploded in 2019 when he defeated defending champion Federer in the last 16.
The atmosphere was lively
With a sizable Greek and Serbian community in Melbourne, and Rod Laver in attendance, there was a lively atmosphere. Djokovic enters the match with a high level of confidence having won all nine of his previous Australian Open finals and with a 10-2 career advantage against the Greek.
Moving freely with only minimal strapping on his troublesome left hamstring, he opened with a comfortable grip after being greeted by huge cheers. Djokovic worked two break points on Tsitsipas’ opening serve to no avail, but continued to check and the Greek served up a 3-1 break with a careless double fault.
Tsitsipas, in only his second Grand Slam final to Djokovic’s 33rd, looked nervous, losing the first set in just 36 minutes. But he came back into contention in a closer second set as his confidence grew, he improved his serve and won a few pressure points.
He earned his first break point and set point when Djokovic hit a backhand wide.
But the Serb clung on to keep the set on serve and it became a tiebreak, where his more experience came to the fore.
Against the odds, Tsitsipas broke for the first time on Djokovic’s opening serve in set three, only to relinquish the advantage after an impressive rally, furious with himself.
It was again a tiebreak, where Djokovic once again raised his level to claim another title.