The men’s singles final of the Australian Open had most of the prerequisites that would make any sports fanatic turn their head.
A modern-day great in Novak Djokovic on one side with an upcoming star in Daniil Medvedev on the other, along with a hyped-up crowd at the Rod Laver Arena made up for the perfect culmination of the year’s first grand slam.
While Medvedev tried every trick in the book, it was still not enough to stop the Serb from taking his grand slam wins tally to eighteen. Djokovic’s total grand slam sits next to only Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both of whom have twenty each. The win down under was Novak’s third in the row and a ninth overall Australian Open title, a number none of his contemporaries are even close.
How Novak Djokovic completed his hat-trick of Australian Open wins
The first set saw a tough back-and-forth for every single point. While both Djokovic and Medvedev had the same number of winners, Djokovic had the last laugh, winning the set 7-5. While the Russian banked on his baseline game in the opening salvo, the Serb broke his serve twice. The latter of the two breaks came when the score was 6-5 in the favor of the 33-year-old.
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After losing the first set, it seemed as if Medvedev was trailing massively in the mental battle. Even though he broke the serve of Djokovic, he couldn’t bank upon the same to even the score.
The fact that the game of the 25-year-old lacked the versatility needed to win at the highest of levels didn’t make his case any stronger. Djokovic converted three out of his four breakpoints, thus making it look all too easy with his impeccable stroke play.
Frustrated en route to the straight-set Australian open finals loss, Medvedev smashed one of his racquets as well. The final set of the match looked a minor formality as the world number one won the set 6-2 and eventually the match 7-5,6-2,6-2 in a total of 1 hour and 53 minutes.
“One of the toughest I ever faced” says Novak on Medvedev
Medvedev has been to two grand slam finals so far. However, on both occasions, a member of the modern ‘Big Three’ ended his dreams of lifting the trophy.
“Congratulations to Novak and your team. Nine Australian Open grand slams and 18 in total is an amazing thing and it is probably not your last one,” said Medvedev, in the trophy ceremony.
As a result of his run to the championship match, Medvedev will rise above 2020 runner-up Dominic Thiem to a career-high No. 3 when the latest FedEx ATP Rankings are published on Monday.
On the other hand, Novak also credited his young rival -““On the court, Daniil is one of the toughest players I have ever faced in my life. It’s only a matter of time before you hold a Grand Slam trophy.”
With the win, Djokovic has narrowed the gap between his contemporaries. He can now aim to surpass them as soon as before the year ends.
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