Novak Djokovic convincingly won the Australian Open tennis tournament for the ninth time on Sunday. The number one in the world was too big for Daniel Medvedev in a one-sided final in Melbourne.
The 25-year-old Medvedev has not lost in twenty consecutive games, but the Russian has rarely reached his highest level in the final. On the other hand, Djokovic fell slightly at the Rod Laver Arena and needed less than two hours to win the Australian Open for the third time in a row: 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.
His newfound success in Melbourne raised the 33-year-old Djokovic to eighteen Grand Slam titles. The Serbian needs two more wins to keep up with the record in the Grand Slam, which is currently held by his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (20 titles each).
At the start of the Australian Open, it didn’t look like Djokovic would win the tournament. In the third round, the “Jocker” suffered an abdominal muscle and escaped elimination by American Taylor Fritz, but in the ensuing matches he was able to persuade again.
Djokovic is the fourth player ever to win at least one Grand Slam tournament nine times. He is in succession with Nadal (thirteen titles at Roland Garros), Margaret Court (eleven titles at the Australian Open) and Martina Navratilova (nine titles at Wimbledon).
Medvedev is still waiting for his first Grand Slam title. He currently played the world number four in the Grand Slam final against Djokovic, after narrowly losing to Nadal in the 2019 US Open final.
Photo Series: Winners Australian Open 2001-2021
Djokovic is unbeaten again at the Australian Open
Djokovic never lost the Australian Open when he reached the Round of Four, and he also made a good start in his ninth final. He hit the Serbian directly in his first serve match for Medvedev, leading 3-0 within eight minutes. The Russian was not fooled, and in part by some unnecessary mistakes by Djokovic, equalizing the result just as quickly.
As expected, Medvedev held up well in rallies, but after a number of smooth matches in service, things went wrong 5-6 for the two-time Grand Slam final. Djokovic forced three points of the group with a beautiful backhand and Medvedev was unable to beat just two points.
In the second semester, Medvedev again made mistakes at crucial moments. The stable Djokovic was immediately broken, but went into four games in a row and saw Medvedev’s frustration increase. World number four broke his racket 2-5 and then broke for the third time.
The good Medvedev game, which has been inaccessible recently, nothing was left of it at the Rod Laver Stadium, where thousands of fans sat in the stands. He got two stops in the first half of the third set, but Djokovic was simply too good.
The almost flawless Serbian – he made thirteen fewer unnecessary fouls than Medvedev – then fired in the service of his Russian opponent and once again succeeded in making great progress. Apart from some small rebounds, Medvedev is no longer close to Djokovic, who convincingly decided the final one-sided in his favor with a 5–2 draw with the seventh break of the match.
Daniel Medvedev was not a match for Novak Djokovic.
Daniel Medvedev was not a match for Novak Djokovic.
Photo: ANP
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