Top seed Novak Djokovic saved a match point on Sunday before beating Sebastian Korda to win the Adelaide International and cement his status as favorite to win the Australian Open title.
The 21-time Grand Slam winner needed more than three hours to stamp his authority on his unseeded American opponent, the son of former world number two Petr Korda, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (7/3), 6 – 4.
In doing so, Djokovic extended his unbeaten streak in Australia to 34 straight matches.
The winner of 92 career titles now heads to the Australian Open in about a week with momentum in his bid to secure a 10th Grand Slam, helped by the absence at Melbourne Park of injured world number one Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic, the 2007 champion in Adelaide at the start of his career, called the pre-Open tune-up week “very special for me”, delighted by the overwhelming enthusiasm of his fans.
“It’s been an amazing week. Standing here is definitely a gift,” said the world number five Serbian, who missed last year’s Australian Open after being deported due to his vaccination status.
“I gave everything today and all week to win this trophy.
“The support I’ve received in the last 10 days is something I don’t think I’ve experienced many times in my life,” he said, with a pro-Djokovic crowd as he played.
“It’s definitely like playing at home.”
Djokovic canceled Korda’s match point while serving at 5-6, 30/40 in the second set, with a good overhead kick to save it before the set went to another tiebreaker which the Serbian won.
– ‘A good start to the year’ –
Korda, 22, played in his fifth career final and said the experience bodes well for the rest of the season.
“It’s a good start to the year, I hope we can finish today, but I know it’s a long journey and there are a lot of positives from this week,” he said.
“I think we (he and the team) are going to have a good year.”
Djokovic, who showed no signs of the foot problems that plagued him during his defeat by Daniil Medvedev, agreed, paying tribute to the fast-rising American.
“Amazing effort today Seb. I would say you were closer to victory today than I was. It was decided by one or two, one or two points,” he said.
“Fortune is hard today, but the future is bright for you.”