Australian Open: Djokovic downs Tsitsipas to win 10th Melbourne title

Novak Djokovic claimed his 10th Australian Open singles title preserving his perfect record in Melbourne Park by beating Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas 63 764 765 and equalling Rafael Nadal on 22 Grand Slam crowns on Sunday nightThe historic achievement triggered an outpouring of emotion from Djokovic who climbed into his player box to share a tearfilled moment with his team while celebrations also erupted among the sea of Serbian flags in Melbourne Parks Garden SquareThe win also assured Djokovics return to No 1 in the ATP Rankings for the first time since last June The 35yearold will replace Carlos Alcaraz in the top spot on Monday after notching his 10th tourlevel victory in a row against Tsitsipas who would have claimed the top spot himself with victory in Sundays finalIt was the second meeting between Djokovic and Tsitsipas in a major final At Roland Garros in 2021 Djokovic rallied from twosetstolove down to defeat the Greek and claim victory on the Paris clayDespite falling just short of becoming the first Greek to win a Grand Slam title Tsitsipas will return to his careerhigh of No 3 in the ATP Rankings on Monday after reaching his maiden final in MelbourneAlso Read Australian Open Recordequalling 22nd Slam title awaits Novak DjokovicDjokovic confidently assumed control early on the Rod Laver Arena Although the Greek raised his game in the second and third sets to ensure some absorbing rallies which whipped up an intense atmosphere in the crowd the Serbian was clinical at key moments to seal a twohour 56minute victory and improve his record in the Australian Open finals to 100On several occasions in the second set the Greek reacted to winning crucial points by rousing his supporters in the crowd and the third seed fed off the febrile atmosphere to raise his level at the Rod Laver ArenaYet although Tsitsipas carved out the sole break point chance of the set which doubled as a set point at 45 3040 Djokovic found a way to pull through He arrowed a sublime forehand winner to save the set point and held his nerve again to claim the tiebreak despite having dropped three straight points to surrender a 41 leadTsitsipas again threatened a resurgence in the third set claiming his only break of the match in the opening game As he so often has on the big stage throughout his career however Djokovic responded immediately He broke back in the next game before clinching a third set dominated by serve and his historic victory with a commanding tiebreak displayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever