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Andy Brownbill / AP
Serbian Novak Djokovic celebrates after defeating Russian Aslan Karatsev in their semi-final match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on February 18, 2021.
Novak Djokovic’s dominance at Melbourne Park continues, with the super Serbian adding a record-extending ninth Australian Open crown to his rapidly growing grand slam collection.
The world number one crushed Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-2 6-2 in Sunday night’s final to get close to two majors of the men’s 20-all-time record shared by tennis titans Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The 33-year-old is the second man to claim nine titles in the same slam, joining his longtime rival Nadal, who owns 13 French Open trophies, after ruthlessly breaking Medvedev’s 20-game winning streak.
Medvedev had been undefeated since last October and beat Djokovic in three of the pair’s four previous meetings.
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But the Russian was no match for Djokovic at Rod Laver Arena, where the relentless Serbian remains unbeaten in nine finals and 42 starts as world number one.
Djokovic will surpass Federer’s record of 310 weeks as world number one next month, and it seems inevitable that he will also surpass the Swiss superstar in the major league rankings as he, Federer and Nadal continue to fight for the best status of all time. .
Incredibly, Federer had racked up 12 slams before Djokovic won his first at the 2008 Australian Open, and 16 before the Serb landed his second at Melbourne Park three years later.
Now Djokovic could possibly overshadow Federer’s account this year.
In his 28th Grand Slam final, Djokovic opened Sunday’s match with an ace, held comfortably and then immediately broke Medvedev in the second game en route to charging to a 3-0 lead in nine minutes.
The top seed seemed to be in full control, only to make a couple of unusual mistakes and find a double break point in the fifth game.
Two large defensive lobs from meters behind Medvedev’s baseline triggered another error from Djokovic and suddenly the set was blocked again at 3-3.
But, as the champion often does, Djokovic improved his game to break Medvedev just as the set seemed headed for a tiebreaker, the Russian hitting the net with a tame forehand on set point.
Medvedev won a break early in the second, but then gave up four straight games and swept his racket in frustration as Djokovic advanced to 5-2, then a dominant two-set lead.
The third set was one-way when Djokovic completed the complete victory in just one hour and 53 minutes.
