It started off looking like a tough competition between Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas, but the Serbian came off his own to brush aside his Greek counterpart in straight sets to win his 22nd Grand Slam Title, and 10th in the Australia Open, a record that will take some time to be broken.
The scoreline read 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 6-6 (7-5) to seal the deal for the Serbian, who was banned from defending his title in 2022 when he refused to vaccinate himself and adhere to the norms of the country back then.
After his admirable victory, Djokovic climbed into the stands to greet and celebrate with his coaching staff, and his brother Djordje, and collapsed on the floor in tears 15 years after his first Grand Slam triumph. His triumph also sealed the 35-year-old's return to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for the first time since June 2022, taking the place of Carlos Alcaraz.
Meeting this foe for a second time in a Grand Slam final, Djokovic's aim was to prevent Tsitsipas from winning his first Grand Slam title. In their last meeting at the Roland Garros in 2021, Djokovic rallied from two-sets-to-love down to defeat the Greek and claim victory on the clay courts of Paris.
Tsitsipas started on the front foot after saving two break points from 15/40 to hold for 1-1. But Djokovic came back into the game, frequently piling pressure onto the Tsitsipas' backhands, as the Greek was eventually pegged back and Djokovic clinched the only break of the set.
Djokovic, backed by a crowd that occasionally became too vociferous amid warnings from the umpire, served out the opening set with relative ease and continued to trouble Tsitsipas with some strong serving in the second set.
World number four Tsitsipas slowly grew in confidence and, after a string of unforced errors from Djokovic – who exchanged some strong words with coach Goran Ivanisevic – he forced set point.
But an excellent forehand winner from Djokovic prevented Tsitsipas from levelling up the match, and the Serbian went on to edge the tie-break in what was a big moment in the contest.
He had the occasional blip, with Tsitsipas earning his first break of serve in the opening game of the third set, but Djokovic responded instantly with another backhand winner to level up.
There was little to separate the two in the next 10 games as another set went the distance, and once again it was Djokovic who held his nerve in an entertaining tie-break to wrap up the victory in a time of two hours and 56 minutes.
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Djokovic has equalled long-time rival Nadal on 22 grand slams and is also now level with Steffi Graf when including the women's singles, with only Serena Williams (23) having won more in the Open Era.
The Serbian has 93 career ATP titles to his name, which is one more than Nadal and the fourth most of any male in the Open Era after Ivan Lendl (94), Roger Federer (103) and Jimmy Connors (109).
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Djokovic – 7/3
Tsitsipas – 15/3
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Djokovic – 36/22
Tsitsipas – 40/42
BREAK POINTS WON
Djokovic – 2/5
Tsitsipas – 1/3
(With Opta Inputs)
