Tearful triumph: Djokovic takes number 22

The Serbian tennis star won the final on Sunday against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas 6:3, 7:6 (7:4), 7:6 (7:5) and celebrated his 22nd Grand Slam tournament victory. Djokovic thus drew level with record holder Rafael Nadal and set further milestones in his impressive career.

With his tenth triumph in his tenth final match of the hard court tournament in Melbourne, Djokovic replaces the injured Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz as number one in the world rankings. From Monday, the 35-year-old will start his 374th week as the nominally best tennis player in the world - and there are many signs of a new, long era. One day after Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka's first Grand Slam triumph under a neutral flag, Djokovic demonstrated his exceptional position among men.

Lots of sideshows Although Djokovic only lost one set in the entire tournament, his path to the title was riddled with obstacles: He was under heavy scrutiny because of the events of the previous year, was sometimes accused of acting because of his thigh problems, defended himself against allegations of an allegedly unauthorized toilet break and publicly defended his father over an incident with a pro-Russian audience group. His ex-coach Boris Becker remarked: “There are many secondary theaters that disturb his concentration.”

Hearted by his mother: Novak Djokovic © APA/afp / DAVID GRAY

Djokovic put up with all of that. “In my case, I feel like things are piling up for one reason or another,” he said. It's "not an ideal situation" to have to deal with such things off the pitch, "but it's part of my life". He is trying to take advantage of this and become “more resilient and stronger”. And he proved that in his 33rd Grand Slam final. With outstanding serves, strong returns and great nerves like in the hard-fought second set, Djokovic forced his Greek opponent to repeatedly push himself to the limit in order to have any chance.

Tsitsipas without a chance For the first time, Djokovic played in the tournament without the white bandage around his left thigh, which, unlike in the first rounds, did not seem to hinder him at all. The age difference of eleven years and 28 days - the largest ever between two Australian Open finalists in the professional era - was also not noticeable. Djokovic looked extremely fit, fresh and highly motivated.

The 24-year-old Tsitsipas, who has chosen the Australian Open as his “home Slam”, found his way into the game significantly better from the second set onwards in his second Grand Slam final and heated up the mood in the Rod Laver Arena with almost 15 000 spectators. Thousands of visitors were also excited at the many public viewing areas in Melbourne Park. In the end, as in the final of the French Open 2021, Tsitsipas had to admit defeat to Djokovic. After he had used the match point and went into his box, the Serb could no longer hold back the tears. He collapsed to the ground and enjoyed the moment.

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Tearful triumph: Djokovic takes number 22

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