Novak Djokovic wins eighth Australian Open

Novak Djokovic has defended his Australian Open crown beating Austrian Dominic Thiem in 5 sets and 4 hours to lift his 17th Grand Slam and 8th title at Melbourne Park. Having struggled physically after winning the 1st set and surrendering the next two, Djokovic came back strongly to brush aside Thiem’s challenge whose wait for a maiden major title just got further elongated.

Djokovic clashed with the umpire over a time violation in the second set and sought a medical timeout for dizziness and dehydration in the third, but he recovered to level proceedings in the fourth and put on a show in the final set to secure victory.

The 32-year-old extended his Australian Open record ahead of Roger Federer, who has won six titles at Melbourne Park and defended his 2019 title in the process. Prior to the final, the No. 5 seed had played three four-set matches and one five-setter, while Djokovic had only been taken to four sets twice. Thiem had also played seven tiebreakers to the Djoker's three. Djokovic now has 17 Grand Slam titles overall. He's just two behind Rafael Nadal's 19 and three behind Federer's 20.

Federer turns 39 this year, and Djokovic is a year younger than Nadal, who has had significantly more injury issues to deal with over the course of his career, so he has an excellent chance of surpassing both by the time they've all retired. As for Thiem, the 26-year-old has now reached a Grand Slam final for three years running. He's beaten Djokovic and Nadal four times apiece and holds a 5-2 head-to-head record against Federer, so if anyone is poised to break the trio's stranglehold on the Grand Slams, it's him.