There are few things in the history of professional sport as painful as facing Novak Djokovic at prime time on Rod Laver Arena.
Inside the stadium he has made his own, Djokovic suffocates all challengers on return yet simultaneously serves them off the court. He smothers foes with his baseline aggression yet his defence makes the court feel so narrow. Over the past 15 years, no rival has been spared.
On Sunday night, Djokovic expanded an unprecedented era of dominance in men’s singles by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) to win a record-extending 10th Australian Open title.
A year after Rafael Nadal pulled ahead in the record books on the very same court, with Djokovic absent from the tournament, Djokovic has issued a response. He equals Nadal’s all-time men’s singles record of 22 grand slam titles, with the 10th crown at Melbourne Park a peerless marker of his dominance.
Djokovic is just the second man in history to win 10 or more singles majors at any grand slam tournament, after Nadal’s 14 French Open titles. He will return to world No 1 for the first time since June last year, when he lost the top ranking to Daniil Medvedev.
“I am extremely proud and happy with this achievement with all the things happening on and off the court,” Djokovic said. “Last year’s event, coming to Australia this year. I was extra nervous and also motivated to try to make a mark and make myself successful on the court.”
One notable absence was Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, after being filmed taking a photograph with a pro-Vladimir Putin fan on Wednesday. Srdjan Djokovic was on-site, however, and he embraced his son by the locker room afterwards.
After Djokovic ploughed through the opening set, Tsitsipas slowly established some rhythm. The 24 year-old pieced together service holds by squeezing the baseline, taking his forehand early and moving forward to the net to pick off drive volleys. Most importantly, he kept hold of his serve and remained ahead throughout. His boldness left a mark across the net.
As Djokovic became rattled, unloading his frustration at his box, one clear opportunity arose for Tsitsipas at 5-4 as he generated a set point at 30-40. During the most consequential moment of the match, Djokovic was ultra-aggressive with his forehand, crushing an inside-in forehand winner and punishing Tsitsipas’s tentativeness.
The underdog would not receive another chance. Djokovic held serve, he outsteadied Tsitsipas in a tense second-set tie-break and then, after both men held firm until the third set tie-break, Djokovic pulled away.
He sealed victory with one final vicious forehand, then he pointed at his head and a heart. As he embraced his family in the crowd, he lay down on the ground and sobbed, the tears continuing to flow as he returned to his courtside chair.
“It was just one of those moments where you feel a huge burden is off your back after all we have been through,” Djokovic said. “They are the only ones who truly know what we have been through over the last three weeks. It was a huge relief.”
A year ago, Djokovic was deported from Australia on the eve of the tournament after attempting to enter Australia with an exemption from Covid vaccination. This time, he will leave Melbourne as an Australian Open champion once more.
Among many things, this tournament has underlined Djokovic’s ability to block out all outside noise and focus on his work on the court. Djokovic had arrived in the tournament with a hamstring issue, struggling late on during his title run in Adelaide.
Despite feeling his hamstring early in the tournament, he gave himself the best chance of lasting for seven matches by winning every single match since the third round in straight sets, conserving energy at every opportunity. The furore this week surrounding his father, which could have distracted many others, did not affect his dominant form.
“The guy is unbelievable. I don’t know how to describe in the words. I thought I saw everything, and then you see this. Probably I’m going to see something else,” said Goran Ivanisevic, Djokovic’s coach.
Since his first grand slam title here 15 years ago, when a 20-year-old from Belgrade first began to achieve his dreams, Djokovic has won every grand slam and Masters 1000 event multiple times and he is statistically the best player of all time. He has gradually built the most complete game the sport has ever seen. And now, the 35-year-old has given himself a chance to take the lead over Nadal in this endless grand slam race.
