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Novak Djokovic won his tenth Australian Open on Sunday in Melbourne once morest Stefanos Tsitsipas. With this new title, the Serbian tennis player equals the record of 22 Grand Slams held by Rafael Nadal and will once once more become world number 1 on Monday.
A victory and records. Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open in Melbourne on Sunday January 29. A tenth coronation which allows the Serbian tennis player to equal Rafael Nadal’s record (22 Grand Slam titles) and to become world number 1 once more from Monday – he will then start a 374th week on the highest step of men’s tennis, a record there too .
Novak Djokovic, 35, beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets (6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5)) in the final. Once victory was assured on a final fault by his opponent, he went up to his box to kiss his team, including his coach Goran Ivanisevic and his mother Dijana, and collapsed there in tears.
Dominating the whole match, the Serbian tennis player did not seem at all bothered by his thigh injury. He also played for the first time in the tournament without his huge bandage.
Like Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros, Novak Djokovic has never lost in the final in Melbourne – where he now holds the record of ten titles.
A contrasting year 2022
Expelled from Australia before the start of the tournament in 2022, Novak Djokovic might only see, powerless, the comeback of Rafael Nadal who had taken a step ahead in the race for Grand Slam titles with a 21st coronation major (20 for Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer). A few months later, the Spaniard pushed his advantage at Roland-Garros.
Winner then at Wimbledon but banned from entering the United States for the US Open, the Serbian tennis player therefore had to wait for the Australian Major to return to Nadal on Sunday.
These impossibilities to play and the absence of points distributed at Wimbledon made him lose his place as world number 1 last year. He recovered it on Sunday and will begin Monday a 374th week at the top of the world hierarchy. Since 2021, he also holds the record for the number of seasons finished in No. 1.
For his part, Stefanos Tsitsipas was playing his second Grand Slam final following Roland-Garros, in 2021. He had already been beaten by Novak Djokovic, but in five rounds and following winning the first two.
With AFP
