tennis
Djokovic received the Australian Open, setting a Grand Slam record
Novak Djokovic received his twenty second Grand Slam title in Melbourne. photograph
© James Ross/AAP/dpa
Novak Djokovic celebrated his twenty second victory in the Grand Slam remaining towards Stefanos Tsitsipas to change into the new primary. Among the girls, Arina Sabalenka received beneath the impartial flag.
A yr after the storm, Novak Djokovic made a triumphant return to the Australian Open.
The Serbian tennis star celebrated his twenty second Grand Slam victory with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) win over Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the remaining on Sunday. Djokovic tied with record holder Rafael Nadal and set additional milestones in his spectacular profession.
With his tenth victory in his tenth remaining match of the hard-court event in Melbourne, Djokovic changed the injured Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz at the prime of the world rankings. The 35-year-old begins his 374th week as the world’s prime ranked tennis participant on Monday – and there are lots of indicators of a lengthy new period. A day after Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka received her first Grand Slam beneath the impartial flag, Djokovic made his mark on the males’s aspect.
One defeat, many obstacles
Although Djokovic dropped only one set all through the event, his path to the title has been hampered: he has been beneath intense scrutiny for final yr’s occasions, accused of appearing partly due to hip issues, and defended towards the allegations. publicly defended his father over an incident involving an unauthorized rest room break and a pro-Russian crowd. “There are so many secondary theaters of struggle that disrupt his focus,” famous his former coach, Boris Becker.
Djokovic left all the things. “In my case, I really feel like issues are coming collectively for a cause,” he mentioned. It’s “not a perfect state of affairs” to take care of issues like that off the discipline, “however it’s a part of my life.” Using this, he tries to change into “stronger and stronger”.
He proved this in the thirty third remaining of the “Grand Slam” event. As was the case in a tight second set with laborious serves, highly effective returns and unbelievable nerve, Djokovic pushed his Greek opponent to his limits time and time once more to take probabilities.
Djokovic performed for the first time in the event with out a white bandage on his left thigh, which, not like in the first rounds, didn’t appear to hinder him in any respect. An age distinction of 11 years and 28 days – the greatest distinction between two Australian Open finalists in the skilled period – was not seen. Djokovic regarded match, contemporary and extremely motivated.
Tsitsipas warms the temper
The 24-year-old Tsitsipas, who selected the Australian Open as his “house Slam”, discovered his recreation significantly better from the second set in his second Grand Slam remaining and in doing so fired up the environment at Rod Laver Arena, house to round 15,000 spectators. Thousands of tourists additionally supported the many public viewing areas in Melbourne Park. In the finish, Tsitsipas needed to concede defeat to Djokovic, similar to in the 2021 French Open remaining.
Sabalenka’s victory over Kazakhstan’s Wimbledon champion Yelena Rybakina on Saturday was accompanied by political debate as the Belarusian turned the first impartial participant to win a Grand Slam. His pleasure was not dampened by the indisputable fact that his identify was written on the trophy, not his nation of start, Belarus.
“I nonetheless really feel like I’m on one other planet,” Sabalenka mentioned Sunday in a photograph shoot in a conspicuously embellished pink costume and sky-high blue sneakers. This is my greatest morning ever. life”.