Novak Djokovic has drawn degree with Rafael Nadal with essentially the most grand slam singles titles of all time in males’s tennis.
The Serbian champion gained his 10th Australian Open crown, making it 22 total – the equal most of any male participant ever.
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He was at his blistering greatest in a clinical 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) performance over Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas.
However followers have been fast to note a delicate assertion he made through the post-match trophy presentation.
Djokovic pulled out a white jacket that already had the quantity ’22’ embossed on the fitting breast, a nod to his personal new report.
The premade jacket instantly blew up the web, with some loving it and others hating it, calling it “cringe”.
Djokovic preserved his aura of invincibility on Rod Laver Enviornment to see off Tsitsipas in a briefly aggressive however finally anticlimactic championship decider on Sunday night time.
The 35-year-old joins 14-times French Open champion Nadal as solely the second man to win the identical slam on not less than 10 events.
Unbeaten – nonetheless – in finals on RLA and with no defeat in 41 matches in Australia since 2018, Djokovic did not need his father’s courtside support to take one other large stride in the direction of sporting immortality.
Srdjan Djokovic was conspicuously absent from the champion’s field, regardless of being given the inexperienced mild to attend the ultimate after being swept up in one thing of a world incident by posing with pro-Russian followers on the event final week.
He’ll you’ll want to be part of the after celebration, although, after his son accomplished a triumphant and tumultuous return to his happiest grand slam searching floor following final 12 months’s dramatic deportation from Australia on the eve of his 2021 Open protection.
The good Rod Laver was fittingly entrance and middle with the most effective view in the home named in his honor for the Serb’s newest history-making act.
Along with the spoils, data and the $2.975 million winner’s cheque, Djokovic will even return to world No.1 on Monday, for a seventh stint atop the rankings, after as soon as once more denying Tsitsipas an elusive maiden main and the possibility to scale the summit himself for the primary time.
Djokovic additionally beat Tsitsipas within the 2021 French Open decider.
This time, although, the Serb was not compelled to recuperate from two units down after dominating the third seed for a lot of the match.
After seizing the opening set with the lone break within the fourth recreation, and searching completely untroubled on his personal serve, Djokovic was briefly rattled late within the second stanza.
Storming the online with success, after being totally bossed from the baseline, Tsitsipas original a set level within the 10th recreation just for Djokovic to put it aside with a forehand winner.
Alternative misplaced, Tsitsipas fell two units behind after Djokovic sealed the tiebreaker and assumed whole command when the Greek flayed a forehand huge.
And when Tsitsipas relinquished an early break within the third set, then surrendered one other tiebreaker, it was recreation, set and match Djokovic after two hours and 55 minutes.
“It isn’t simple. One other remaining at a grand slam, however I am at all times prepared to return on courtroom and work more durable,” stated a shattered Tsitsipas, who has misplaced his previous 10 matches in opposition to Djokovic.
Accepting the runners-up trophy from four-time former Australian Open champion Ken Rosewall, Tsitsipas paid tribute to the champion and stated Djokovic was the most effective participant of all-time.
“I’ve had the privilege to play plenty of tough, high-intensity matches however I wish to say yet another time Novak brings out the most effective in me,” he stated.
“He is one of many biggest in our sport and I feel – he is the best that has ever held a tennis racquet for positive.”
Then to Djokovic, he added: “I might prefer to thanks for pushing our sport, each single participant, each single person that’s concerned within the sport to the max.”
– With AAP
