Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets in the Australian Open final. The championship is Djokovic’s 22nd, with which he shares the record for grand slam wins.
Serbian Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open tennis men’s singles championship. In Sunday’s final match, a Greek fell Stefanos Tsitsipas set 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5).
At the Australian Championship, Djokovic shared the winning record of major tournaments in men’s singles. Now he has and With Rafael Nadal has 22 grand slam titles.
– This will certainly not be your last grand slam. You have a lot more time than I do, 35-year-old Djokovic stated (you switch to another service) after the final, addressing his Greek opponent.
Tsitsipas, 24, was in the grand slam final for the second time in his career. He lost to Djokovic on Sunday in both Australia and France in 2021.
– You (Djokovic) are one of the best in our sport and I believe… you are the greatest player ever to hold a tennis racket. I haven’t said this before, but I want to thank you for promoting our sport. Tennis deserves a player like you, Tsitsipas said at the award ceremony.
Djokovic last lost in Australia in the 2018 tournament. Now he has a record ten Australian Open wins. In this year’s tournament, Djokovic lost only one set.
Last season, Djokovic did not get to defend his championship because he was not allowed in the ground due to exhaustion of the corona vaccine. At the beginning of January, he won the court proceedings and entered the tournament with an exception.
– This was one of the most challenging tournaments I’ve played in during my life, when you think about the conditions. I want to thank everyone who made me feel welcome. There is a reason why I have played the best games of my career on this court. Thank you (tennis legend) Rod Laverthat you are there, Djokovic said with the championship trophy in his lap.
In Djokovic’s tournament this year, there was a lot of talk about things other than the corona pandemic. On Thursday, among other things BBC reported (switch to another service) Djokovic’s Srdja-father posing in pictures together with the president of Russia Vladimir Putin with supporters.
“Tsitsipas, Tsitsipas”
The atmosphere in Australia’s tennis shrine, Rod Laver Arena, was fiery in the final. The audience was strongly involved and thanks to the country’s large Greek population, the spectators were clearly on Tsitsipas’ side. Djokovic’s failures were celebrated, the Greek enjoyed chants of “Tsitsipas, Tsitsipas” and the referee repeatedly calmed the crowd.
Both players had enough to say during the match. Djokovic apparently exorcised the instructions given by his team, and Tsitsipas protested to the referee that the sideline advertisements were “almost the same color as the ball”.
The first set was Djokovic’s hay as he broke one of Tsitsipas’s serves and he didn’t falter in his own.
In the second set, Tsitsipas was stronger in his passes, but it was not enough until the end. Djokovic took four mini breaks and finally won the set.
In the third, Tsitsipas started with a gut feeling and caught his only break point of the match in the opening game of the set. Djokovic caught the next one and, with it, the set went to a tie break.
In the final moments of the match, the Serbian spectators raised their voices, and Djokovic was able to get the conductor to sing the crowd. In the tiebreak, Djokovic finally stepped into the championship in the 33rd grand slam final of his career.