A year ago Novak Djokovic was expelled from the country, now the tennis superstar is back on top at the Australian Open. In the final, the 35-year-old doesn't give his opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas a chance and wins for the tenth time in Melbourne. And sets the record for most Grand Slam wins.
Novak Djokovic climbed wildly cheering into his box and then collapsed, overwhelmed by his emotions, he cried lying on the floor with happiness: A year after his humiliating expulsion, the Serbian folk hero stormed back to the throne of the Australian Open with a masterpiece. After two weeks of turbulence, the 35-year-old triumphantly defeated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was eleven years his junior, 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 4), 7: 6 (7: 5) in the final of the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne. .
Djokovic got himself great satisfaction and once again wrote history with his tenth win Down Under. The exceptional talent caught up with Rafael Nadal, who was the sole record champion so far, with his 22nd major triumph.
He also jumps back to the top of the world rankings, replacing Carlos Alcaraz, who was out injured. Djokovic is going into his 374th week as number one in the world and is also expanding his record in statistics. Bitterly disappointed, Tsitsipas missed Greece's first Grand Slam title in his second final. He had already lost to Djokovic in Paris in 2021.
The final offered around 15,000 spectators in the packed Rod Laver Arena a sporting spectacle, just like the tournament winner Aryna Sabalenka did the day before in the women's final with her 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4 against the strong Wimbledon champion Jelena Rybakina. "I still feel like I'm on another planet," said the Belarusian, who competed as a neutral athlete, the day after: "It's the best morning of my life." Djokovic and Tsitsipas wanted to prepare a great evening. Thousands of fans of both players also cheered on in front of the arena.
Djokovic aimed for a liberating feeling of happiness. The first highlight of the year on the tennis calendar this year was associated with enormous unrest around him from the start. The star from Belgrade was initially moved to return to Australia, then the tennis world discussed his injured thigh, which was no longer bandaged in the final. And finally, his father Srdjan allowed himself to be "abused" by pro-Russian people for pictures, as Djokovic put it.
Djokovic Senior could have returned to the box for the grand finale, but the seat next to his wife Dijana Djokovic remained empty. The Serb's fans saw an extremely strong start from the favorites, who put Tsitsipas under heavy pressure with his returns and made the early break to make it 3-1. In his own service games, Djokovic, playing his 33rd major final, was untouchable with great variability and precision in the first set.
In the second round, Tsitsipas increased the rate of his first serve and found more and more solutions against Djokovic with a strong angle game, who fended off a set ball when the score was 4: 5. In the nervous tie-break, the "Djoker" then made fewer mistakes and then took a short break. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas tried to reset himself and then attack. It was important for him to reduce the many dropouts on the forehand side in order to become dangerous to the determined Djokovic. Ultimately, however, the Serb dominated this final and won, which he deserved.
