Novak Djokovic has been crowned Australian Open champion for the third time in his incredible career. The Serbian phenom dropped just one set during the tournament and crushed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final act. In addition to reaffirming that he is the best in the game, Nole regained the lead in the ATP ranking by unseating Carlos Alcaraz from his throne after 20 weeks of reign.
The 35-year-old from Belgrade also hooked his eternal rival Rafael Nadal in 22 Slams and will try to beat him now at Roland Garros, scheduled for the end of May on the clay of Paris. Given the physical state of the Spaniard, many believe that Novak can aspire to the “Grand Slam of the calendar” this year.
Let’s remember that the Serbian had already been close to the feat in 2021, staying just one game away from a legendary goal. The 22-time Slam champion will play the ATP 500 in Dubai at the end of February, while his presence in Indian Wells and Miami is highly unlikely (due to his vaccination status).
Through his Twitter profile, Paul Annacone -former coach of Roger Federer and Pete Sampras- congratulated Djokovic: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a difficult player on a tennis court. Novak Djokovic is different from the others.
I congratulate him and thank him for the emotions that he gave us in Australia.” In an interview with “L’Equipe”, Mats Wilander praised Djokovic: “At 35, Novak Djokovic has decided to further modernize his game. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have also changed their game late.
Roger has become even more aggressive and has moved closer to the net, while Rafa has adopted various tactical solutions to avoid having to run too much.”
Djokovic improved to 12-0 on the year
Novak Djokovic said that it’s a matter of huge ‘pride’ and ‘satisfaction’ to win his tenth title at the Australian Open.
“Yeah, just a huge pride and satisfaction that I feel at the moment. Of course, when I went into my box, I just think emotionally collapsed there and teared up, especially my mother and my brother, when I gave them a hug because up to that moment, I was not allowing myself to, I guess, be distracted with things off the court or whatever was happening in dealing with an injury, things happening off the court, as well, that could easily have been a big disturbance to my focus, to my game.
It required enormous mental energy really to stay present, to stay focused, to take things day by day, and really see how far I can go,” he said.
