Djokovic beat Medvedev in three sets: still the king of Australia

A historyless final, won by three sets to nil over Daniil Medvedev, gives Novak Djokovic his ninth success at the Australian Open and his 18th overall in Grand Slam tournaments. A terrifying showdown of the Serbian that ended 7-5 6-2 6-2 in one hour and 53 minutes. With his usual pressure tennis and regularity, Nole has dispelled all the certainties that the Russian had won in recent months, with 20 victories in a row, with the success in the London Masters and with the excellent behavior maintained during the two weeks in Melbourne. But when the stakes are high, at the Grand Slam finals level, the hearts and experiences of the so-called old men always seem to have the best of the new recruits. Except for the finals they played against each other, the last loss of a Fab Four in a Grand Slam final against a player younger than them was Juan Martín Del Potro’s win at the 2009 US Open.

THE END

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Djokovic starts the game with the 101st ace of the tournament and easily holds the bar at fifteen. Medvedev, for his part, misses two crosses in a row, goes under 15-40 and immediately leaves the bar. The first serve helps the Russian to maintain, after 10 minutes of play, the serve with Nole already 3-0 ahead. But when Nole is going to serve to confirm the break, Medvedev wins a very long exchange that culminated in the short ball missed by the Serbian, who then misses a smash to bounce off his back allowing the counterattack. Medvedev keeps the bar at zero and hits his opponent in 3 all. The two of them make it to hot matches without further hesitation. However, at 5-6, Medvedev starts the game below 0-15, after a great attack from Nole on the Russian’s right. Medvedev puts a passerby in the hallway and passes under the 0-30. Djokovic wins three consecutive set points with a backhand passantone. The Russian magically recovers the first, cancels the first two set points, but on the third he lands a forehand that sends Nole forward a set to zero. The world number 1 would like to catch his breath after a very intense first set, he loses the first set and Medvedev breaks him at the beginning of the second set. The Russian, however, does not confirm it, he is in trouble again and with an exceptional second leg, Nole places the counterattack for 1-1. The Serbian plays at a very high level and the Russian does not keep up with him. Another break and Nole extends to 4-1, then 5-2 and finally closes the set with another break. At the start of the third set, Medvedev finds two break points, but Nole recovers from 15-40 and starts leading in the third split as well. Nole owns the field and flies forward 3-0 with ease. The Russian enters streaks that do not affect the solid and precise tennis of the Serbian. At 5-2, Medvedev misses another direct center and for the world number 1 there is the first match point that is closed with a harpoon of a semi smash that is not simple at all. It is the apotheosis of a great champion who, unsurprisingly, played the best match of the tournament in the final.

THE NUMBERS

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For Novak Djokovic it is the ninth victory at the Australian Open, the third in a row (only Nadal has won a Grand Slam multiple times, 13 Roland Garros) and the 18th overall in Grand Slam tournaments (9 Australian Open, a Roland Garros). Garros, 5 Wimbledon and 3 US Open). The Serbian moves for the first time in his career just two strokes behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Serbian is still number 1 in the world and on March 8 of next week 311 will start as king, one more than the all-time record held, albeit briefly, by Roger Federer. For the Serbian it is also the sixth Slam won by the over 30s (Wimbledon 2018 and 2019, Us Ope 2018, Australian Open 2019, 2020 and 2021), like the 6 won by Rafaeal Nadal, the other terrible old man in the history of the tennis (Federer is stuck at 4, like Laver and Rosewall). Medvedev is defeated from his second Grand Slam final and can only console himself by thinking of having risen to world number 3 for the first time (Medvedev and Thiem change their positions, all the other top 10 remain unchanged). No player, with the exception of the Fab Four, has reached the top two positions in the rankings since July 2005, when Lleyton Hewitt did.