Novak’s Nine: Djokovic wins yet another Australian Open, beating Daniil Medvedev

The streak continues. Novak Djokovic remains undefeated in finals at Melbourne Park, winning an unprecedented ninth Australian Open title on Sunday night after trouncing Russia’s Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

Djokovic’s ninth Australian Open triumph was his third on the trot, the second time in his career he has won three consecutive majors at Melbourne Park.

It was also the 33-year-old’s 18th grand slam victory, putting him only two majors behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal who hold the record for most male grand slam wins on 20.

Djokovic’s ninth Australian Open is not quite the 13 French Open titles won by Nadal, although it could be argued it is nearly as significant given the ubiquity of hard courts in modern tennis, as opposed to the clay of Roland Garros which is Nadal’s speciality.

He said the win was “emotionally” one of his toughest.

“To be honest, with quarantine and a lot of things happening in the media, the letter that I wrote, ideas and recommendations that I got from players was misinterpreted as my request and list of demands,” Djokovic said of a leaked letter he wrote to Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley when some players went into hard lockdown.

Novak Djokovic savours the moment with the trophy.Credit: Getty Images

“Then the next thing you know within a couple of days I’m the persona non grata in this country. I got injured in the third round. It was rollercoaster ride if I can define it in one word. I think it makes [it] even sweeter for me. I’ll take a lot of positives from this tournament without a doubt.”

Djokovic said he tore a muscle in his abdomen in the third round, but then recovered to keep winning, causing people to question how genuine the injury was.

“It’s a muscle tear,” he said on Sunday. “It was a muscle tear at that point. I don’t think I’ve experienced that kind of a snap that I have in the third round. I went to MRI. MRI has shown a tear.

“People questioned that. I understand they question my injury. Question whether there is a tear. There is. I mean I can get the doctors and physios to confirm that.”

Novak Djokovic is all concentration against Daniil Medvedev. Credit: Eddie Jim

Medvedev began strongly but wilted as the match went on, the loss his first in a 20-match winning streak which included victories over top 10 players on 12 occasions.

The Russian had also beaten Djokovic in three of the pair’s last four clashes, most recently at the ATP Finals in England late in 2020, but the Serbian simply had a greater variety of ways to win points and made many less errors on this night.

Djokovic has now won nine of the last 14 Australian Open tournaments and six of the last 10 grand slam tournaments.

The first set was as sensational as this year’s tournament has seen. Points were often long but this was not a boring baseline battle.

It was more akin to watching two ball machines hitting at each other such was the crispness and robotic efficiency of some of the striking. And instead of being rooted to the spot those ball machines were programmed for near perfect court coverage and anticipation of their opponent’s next move.

Courting success: Novak Djokovic celebrates victory.Credit: Getty Images

Both of these players are noted for their court coverage and defence – that is they regularly hit balls back over the net that should be winners – and such remarkable shots were a feature of this encounter.

The pair traded early breaks and it was even until late in the set when the Serbian broke again.

Medvedev could have hardly played better tennis in the first set, which only proved how dialled in Djokovic was.

Not only was the magnitude of the challenge facing Medvedev represented in Djokovic’s first set performance and record at Melbourne Park, it was also potentially clear to him in the rankings forecast.

Daniil Medvedev shows his frustration during the final.Credit: Getty Images

If the Russian had beaten Djokovic he would have jumped two places to grab the world No.2 spot. In doing so, Medvedev would have become the first man outside the big four (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Andy Murray) to hold that ranking since Lleyton Hewitt did in 2005.

Medvedev broke Djokovic in the first game of the second set and almost did the same in the first game of the third set.

However, this did not rattle Djokovic. The Serbian broke back swiftly in the second set and ran away with it, and also held a 3-0 lead in the third set.

Medvedev, in his second grand slam final, had been in this position before. In his first grand slam final against Nadal at the 2019 US Open the Russian came from two sets to love down to force a fifth set.

But the efficiency of Djokovic’s power, precision and the depth of his shots stopped this from happening again, and the final two sets were considerably more one-sided than the first.

“Hopefully we’re going to hold a grand slam soon,” Medvedev said after his defeat.

“I really wanted to make this match longer and more entertaining for you, but today was not the day.”