At 31 years old, Novak Djokovic has
established himself as the player to beat on the ATP circuit. The No. 1 player
in the world claimed his third consecutive Grand Slam with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
victory against Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open men’s final with the sweep
also giving Djokovic his seventh career title in Melbourne.
The achievement makes Djokovic the
Australian Open's winningest player in history, drawing him ahead of Roy
Emerson and Roger Federer. Federer was eliminated by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the
Round of 16 after winning the last two opens on the hard court. Djokovic
put on an utter clinic against Nadal, serving up eight aces to Nadal's three
and notching five break points while never having his own serve broken. He won
on 81 percent of his first serves, and he somehow won on 84 percent of his
second serves. He somehow took a Nadal who had not lost a set all Open coming
into the final and made him look completely toothless for the 2 hour and 4
minute duration of the match.
Djokovic now has 15 career Grand
Slam wins, after having 12 at this time last year. Nadal, 32, retired in the US
Open semifinals due to pain in his knee, so his greatness in this tournament
perhaps flew under the radar a bit. The last time these two greats
played was in Wimbledon, a 5-hour 17-minute thriller that saw Djokovic win in
five sets. This match went a little differently.
In
Women’s Singles Japan's Naomi Osaka beat Czech Petra Kvitova in a thrilling
Australian Open final to win back-to-back Grand Slams and become the new world
number one. N. Mahut and P.H. Herbert won Men’s Double title. S. Zhang
and S. Stosur won Women’s Doubles title. B. Krejcikova and R. Ram won mixed
double title.
