Novak Djokovic offers himself a 9e victory at the Australian Open, a record, and his 18e Grand Slam title. The world number 1 outclassed Russian Daniil Medvedev (4e) in three sets 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in less than two hours, Sunday February 21, in Melbourne.
At 33, Djokovic thus returns to two lengths of the record number of Grand Slam trophies held by both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who have twenty successes each. The physical bet of the Serbian, who had seemed on the verge of abandonment in the third round, affected the abdominals, is perfectly raised. Medvedev lost his second major final after the 2019 US Open and saw his streak of twenty successive victories abruptly interrupted.
Doubts after injury
“The past two weeks have been a roller coaster for me”, Djokovic recalled. The Serbian had left doubt on the rest of his tournament after being injured in the middle of a match against the American Taylor Fritz, from whom he had emerged victorious in five sets, somehow. Forgotten his abdominal pain which then accompanied him during the next two matches: in the final, Djokovic only let Medvedev stand up to him for the first set.
Ideally entered into the game, the world number 1 took advantage of the Russian’s hesitant start to quickly escape 3 games to 0 in just eight minutes. But Medvedev, progressively more efficient in service and more enduring in extended exchanges, came back to height (3-3). He then gave the impression that a fight could take shape between the two players. A feeling quickly dissipated by Djokovic, once the first round pocketed 7-5.
In the second set, the Serbian was broken from the start, but he then lined up four games. A racket smashed by Medvedev when he found himself down 5-2 didn’t change that. In the third, Djokovic again took off in speed (3-0), before concluding with a final break.
Djokovic remains number 1
“I would have liked to make this match last and make it more interesting for you [le public], but it was not the day “apologized Medvedev. The 25-year-old Russian had yet won three of his last four face-to-face meetings with Djokovic.
He had above all built, straddling 2020 and 2021, a series of twenty successive victories by winning the Masters 1000 in Paris, the Masters at the end of the year, then the ATP Cup with Russia at the beginning of the month, before reaching the final in Melbourne. He also remained on a series of twelve successes in a row against top 10 players. His last defeat dated back to October 30, in the quarter-finals in Vienna, against South African Kevin Anderson (6-4, 7 -6).
Despite losing in the Australian Open final, Medvedev will be on the podium in the world rankings for the first time on Monday, on the third step. Djokovic, he will remain unsurprisingly on the throne. The week of March 8 will be the 311e of his career spent at the top of the standings, allowing him to seize the record until then held by Roger Federer.
Djokovic and Nadal have now got their hands on ten of the last eleven Grand Slam titles (since Roland-Garros 2018). Only Dominic Thiem, at the US Open 2020, managed to get one out of them.
