By virtue of his 10th Australian Open title, Djokovic will reclaim his place as world No. 1.
A year after being deported days before the Australian Open began, Novak Djokovic lifted the 2023 Australian Open trophy with a 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) win over Stefanos Tsitsipas. at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.
With the win, the 35-year-old Serbian star extended his Melbourne Park record to 10 titles and tied Rafael Nadal’s career record of 22 Grand Slam titles. The world number 5 ranked player has now won 28 straight Australian Open matches and has a 20-0 record in semifinals and finals at this tournament. Overall, this marked Djokovic’s 93rd ATP title.
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He won the first set with relative ease before Tsitsipas turned him on and forced tiebreaks in the final two sets. But in both tiebreakers, Djokovic was simply overwhelming. He jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first after he made it 4-4, winning the last three points to take the second set. He smelled a win in the final tiebreaker and quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead before ending the match.
Moments after the victory, Djokovic found coach Goran Ivanisevic in the crowd and went to celebrate with him and others. Returning to the pitch, the Serb sat down on the nearest bench next to him and began to cry, and for good reason. He has spent a record 373 weeks as world No. 1 during his career, and will find himself jumping four spots to return to the top of the ATP rankings next.
“This has been one of the most difficult tournaments, considering the circumstances. I didn’t play last year and I came back this year,” Djokovic said after the match, The Guardian reported. “I want to thank all the people who made me feel comfortable. There’s a reason I’ve been playing the best tennis here.”
Djokovic went on to say that it was the “biggest” win of his career.
“Only the team and the family know what we’ve been through in the last four or five weeks,” he said. “This is probably, I would say, the biggest win of my life, considering the circumstances.”
Djokovic entered the tournament with hamstring discomfort from an injury sustained at the Adelaide International, a tournament he also won, in early January. The injury showed up at the Australian Open, including early in his quarterfinal match with Andrey Rublev, but Djokovic kept going.
