MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic found this trip to Australia much less complicated and more successful than the one a year ago.
Unable to attend his best tournament in 2022 after being expelled from the country for not being vaccinated against COVID-19, Djokovic has accomplished all he could possibly want in his return: He continues continue his victorious path at Melbourne Park and back to the top of tennis.
Only briefly challenged in Sunday night’s final, Djokovic simply got better at the crucial moments and beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) to win the record-extending 10th Australian Open and 22nd Grand Slam title overall. As a bonus, Djokovic will jump from 5th to 1st in the ATP rankings, a position he has held for more weeks than any other man.
“He was the greatest man to ever hold a racket,” said Tsitsipas.
Djokovic extended his unbeaten streak in Melbourne to 28 matches, the longest streak at a singles tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968. He added the No 10 title to Wimbledon’s seven-score , three of the US Open — where he was also absent last year because he didn’t have a coronavirus shot — and two at the French Open, to play against an opponent. Rafael Nadal the most by a man in tennis history.
Margaret Court, with 24, Serena Williamswith 23 and Steffi Graf, with 22, has the most women.
This is also Djokovic’s 93rd ATP title, helping the 35-year-old from Serbia overtake Nadal for fourth place. Jimmy Connors holds that mark, at 109.
Djokovic is in his 33rd major final, Tsitsipas is his second – and the other 24-year-old from Greece also ended in defeat to Djokovic, at the French Open. 2021.
He was dominant throughout the match against Tsitsipas, but especially in the two tiebreaks. He took a 4-1 lead in the first half and after the score was 4 all in, he won three points in a row. He took a 5-0 lead in the closing tiebreak and when the match ended, he pointed to his temple and climbed into the stands, swinging his fists and dancing with his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, and other members of the entourage, then collapsed and cried.
There is little doubt that this offers no consolation to Tsitsipas, but there is no shame in losing to Djokovic in Melbourne. Challenging his dominance on those blue hard courts is the big task facing Nadal on the red clay at Roland Garros.
Perhaps surprisingly, Tsitsipas is willing to engage in the kind of lunging, leggy back-and-forth with which Djokovic has built his pinnacle career. How come out? Of the points that lasted at least five strokes, Djokovic won 43, Tsitsipas 30,
Then again, on the rare occasions where Tsitsipas rushes into the net, he will likely regret this choice, because Djokovic often delivers passes that are too difficult to handle.
One of Djokovic’s many other strengths was his return game, and he accumulated three break points within 17 minutes, converting the last point to a quick 3-1 lead when Tsitsipas made a double foul.
The trophy they were playing was displayed on a pedestal near one corner of the field, and both men would get it whenever they wandered to the towel between points at that end.
Very close, yes, but for Tsitsipas, never really close enough.
It was not that Tsitsipas played so poorly, other than making mistakes that seemed to be the product of stress more than anything at first.
Simply put, it’s Djokovic that’s too good. Too precise with his shots — making only 22 optional errors, 20 fewer than his opponent’s — and predictive. The chases were too fast and flexible (apart from a second set point, when Djokovic ran to the left, he fell). Too dangerous with his returns and enough damage with his serves.
Djokovic pushes and pushes and pushes a few more times, until the opponent is less than perfect on a shot, either missing or creating an opportunity to rush in.
There have been more than two forehands and backhands on Djokovic’s mind in the past two weeks.
There was a big problem with the legal story last year — he took turns admitting the whole thing as a kind of motivation but also saying the other day, “I got over it” — and curiosity about that sort of thing. the reception he will receive.
He heard a lot of loud backing, but also faced some nagging whistling while playing, including applause following Sunday’s missteps.
There was a pain in his left hamstring that was heavily bandaged every game — until the final, when only a single piece of beige sports tape was visible — and it worried him. settled at the beginning of Week 1, prompting him to turn to what he said were “a lot” of pain relievers and other treatments, which he did not detail.
And then there was his father’s more complicated problem, Srdjan, was filmed with a group of people holding Russian flags – one with a picture of Vladimir Putin – after Djokovic’s quarter-final victory. The tournament banned spectators from carrying Russian or Belarusian flags, saying they would cause disruption because of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Both Djokovic and his father said it was a misunderstanding, as Srdjan thought he was with a group of Serbian fans.
Because of that episode, Srdjan Djokovic didn’t attend his son’s semi-final before the win tommy paul on Friday, and was not seen in Djokovic’s guest box on Sunday.
Whatever happens, Djokovic is excellent as usual, winning 17 consecutive sets after conceding one in the round two weeks ago.
