NWith the racket in his left hand, Novak Djokovic walked in the direction of his staff and his household. He stopped just a few meters away from the tribune and shouted his pleasure. Then he went as much as the roof to achieve his family members. Half of the nationwide staff, led by coach Goran Ivanisevic, welcomed the Serbs with open arms. Djokovic turned once more to scream all the pressure.
Only after he fell into the arms of his youthful brother Marco did his temper change. In his mom’s arms, Djokovic fell to his knees and fell on his again in the center of the stands. The Australian Open winner cried so arduous you might hear her crying so arduous. It took him a few minute to relax.
Around 15,000 spectators at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena witnessed sporting historical past after a 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 win over Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. Djokovic’s tenth Australian Open title was his twenty second Grand Slam title, tied with document holder Rafael Nadal.
At the similar time, they skilled certainly one of the largest emotional shocks in tennis. The depth of the feelings jogged my memory of former basketball star Michael Jordan crying in the locker room after his fourth NBA title in 1996. It was Jordan’s first championship since his father’s assassination in 1993.
Fortunately, Djokovic’s state of affairs was not so dramatic, however two hours after his success, he defined how the victory had taken a toll on him. “Until the fall, I did not enable myself to be distracted by issues off the court docket. Dealing with accidents and issues exterior of tennis can simply derail my focus and my sport.”
The scandal surrounding Djokovic’s father
Novak Djokovic has needed to cope with the uncertainty of how he might be obtained a yr after Australian tennis followers initially refused entry because of his lack of vaccination in opposition to the corona virus. After questioning the severity of his hip harm, he was vindicated by the media, saying he “did not even” prepare on non-game days.
Then got here the scandal Djokovic’s father brought on when he appeared in a video with Russian activists after his son’s quarter-final success. “It took quite a lot of psychological vitality to be in the second and keep targeted,” Djokovic stated.
Tsitsipas felt on Sunday how nicely he did it regardless of all the things. Djokovic gave him just a few probabilities after which he was too passive. At 5:4 and 40:30 in the second set, he missed his solely serve and responded aggressively to Djokovic’s second serve at simply 128 kilometers per hour.
In the tie-break, the Greeks couldn’t reap the benefits of a slight weak spot and a double fault by the Serbs. After an excellent third set, Djokovic went up 5-0 in one other tiebreak inside minutes. Tsitsipas has not solely excelled on the pitch: “He pushes you to your limits: I do not see that as a curse. We all beat our butts, it is a good lesson,” he stated.
Djokovic (35) and Nadal (36) have won 16 of the final 19 Grand Slams. No participant born after 1987 has but won the males’s occasion in Melbourne, Paris and Wimbledon. It stays an enormous query that the two giants of this sport are nonetheless in a position to surpass not solely their opponents who’re ten years youthful, but in addition bodily at the age of superior athletes.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev stays the solely participant of the subsequent era to have won each Grand Slam finals. In 2021, Russia’s Djokovic won all 4 titles in a single season in New York. “Big titles stay the largest motivation,” stated Djokovic, however he would not wish to evaluate himself to others. In 2023, well being rules in the U.S. nonetheless forestall Djokovic from the full dominance attainable.
In the United States, individuals who haven’t been vaccinated in opposition to the corona virus are nonetheless prohibited from coming into the nation. “But I’m hoping for some excellent news in the subsequent few weeks,” Djokovic defined. First of all, he meant to take part in the Masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in March.
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