Novak Djokovic made history again australian open one year after your deportation. The Serb passed over a, at times, fragile Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-3, 7-6 and 7-6) who mentally succumbed again in the important moments of the game. Djokovic conquers his 22nd Grand Slam and thus equals Rafa Nadal as the male tennis player with the largest tournaments to his credit.
In addition, his tenth title in Melbourne has a double prize: The Balkan snatches the number 1 in the world from Carlos Alcaraz, absent due to injury in the first big game of the year. Djokovic, accused of faking injuries throughout the tournament, once again demonstrated that he is 100%, and makes up for what happened a year ago when the Australian government canceled his visa for not being vaccinated against the coronavirus.
It rained in the afternoon, but the organization decided to keep the track uncovered, which in principle favored Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek did not know how to take advantage of it against a Djokovic who left behind any type of discomfort and came out for the first time in the tournament without a bandage on his left leg. The Balkan left theater to one side and once again showed that when he plays at his best he is almost unbeatable on hard court: His ERA at the Australian Open is overwhelming, with ten wins in ten finals.
A comfortable first set for the Balkan
In the first set, Djokovic barely gave up five points on serve. He broke the Greek’s serve, who could do nothing against a cyclone that closed the first set in just 36 minutes. The party seemed destined to be a replica of what happened before de Minaur y Rublevbut the Greek had more tennis on the racket.
Tsitsipas’s mental fragility condemns him again
The second set was another story. Tsitsipas and Djokovic kept their serve throughout all the 70 minutes that lasted the sleeve. she had a set ball the Greek with 4-5 to the rest, but could not materialize the point. In the tie break, Tsitsipas, who had lost three consecutive tiebreakers against the Serb, trembled again, as he usually does at key moments in big events. It already happened to him in the 2021 Roland Garros final when he wasted a two-set lead also against Djokovic.
Today it happened again: shaky hand and a backhand that was pitiful to see in an entire Grand Slam final. You can only fight against Djokovic if you control all the blows on the court and, no matter how much the right Hellenic is one of the best on the circuit, his weak one-handed backhand condemns him against the greatest. Djokovic was hesitant in that tie break, but the fragility of Tsitsipas allowed him to emerge victorious from the tiebreaker.
The third set began with the first -and only- break in the Tsitsipas match. The Athenian surprised the rest, but he threw away what he had achieved in the next game. The only chance for him to disturb a solid Djokovic was wasted. The third set was similar to the previous one: the players barely failed to serve and played a tie break again, which smiled, as almost always, on the Serb.
The hand of the Greek faltered again, who started the tiebreaker game with an initial 0-5, missing backhands non-stop. The scream of a fan disconcerted Djokovic, who lost 3 points in a row; but at the moment of truth, the Greek once again succumbed to a Serbian who, serene on the track, let off steam with his box, leaving a historical image for tennis.
22nd Grand Slam and new number 1
The final had a double prize: the winner would become the new world number 1 to the detriment of Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic’s victory places him back at the top of the ranking and allows him to equalize Rafael Nadal in the Olympus of the tennis players with the most Grand Slam victories. The next Roland Garros in May, Rafa Nadal’s fetish tournament, it is presented as the definitive Grand Slam to break the tie between the two most successful tennis players of all time.
