The Serbian Novak Djokovic will try to become tomorrow the most winning tennis player in Grand Slam tournaments together with the Spanish Rafael Nadal, when he faces the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas for the final of the Australian Open, which will also give the champion the number one ATP ranking .
A year after being deported from Melbourne for not getting vaccinated against the coronavirus, Djokovic returned to the Australian Open in a big way. Starting at 5:30 p.m. (Argentine time) this Sunday, on ESPN, the Serbian will seek his tenth title in Australia and the 22nd Grand Slam.
If she succeeds, she will tie Nadal for the most Grand Slam men’s singles titles and Germany’s Steffi Graf for third place on the list of most Grand Slam singles titles of all time, behind only the Australian. Margaret Court (24) and the American Serena Williams (23).
In addition, the champion of the men’s final this Sunday between Djokovic and Tsitsipas will dethrone the current world number 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who spent a total of 20 consecutive weeks at the top. The Spaniard will fall to second place, while the finalist in Melbourne will remain in third position.
Djokovic, current number 5 in the ATP ranking, leads the record 10-2 against Tsitsipas (4), who wants to be crowned for the first time in Melbourne. The two met in the 2021 Roland Garros final, when the Serb recovered after losing the first two sets and won the title.
Both players reach the final unbeaten in 2023: while Djokovic is coming off lifting his 92nd ATP Tour title in Adelaide, Tsitsipas represented Greece in the United Cup and won all four singles matches he played against Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin , Borna Coric and Matteo Berrettini.
Djokovic, 35, played 69 Grand Slam tournaments and this Sunday will be his 33rd Major final, extending his all-time record.
In a generational crossover, Tsitsipas (24 years old) is the youngest player to reach the Australian Open final since Djokovic in 2011, when the Serbian -23 at the time- beat Scotsman Andy Murray, and will play his second final of a big tournament.
Djokovic was champion in 2008 (beating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tonga in the final), 2011 (Andy Murray), 2012 (Nadal), 2013 (Murray), 2015 (Murray), 2016 (Murray), 2019 (Nadal), 2020 (against the Austrian Dominic Thiem) and 2021 (against the Russian Daniil Medvedev). In 2022 he could not participate and now he will go for his great rematch.
