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

The Serbian beats the Russian 7-5 6-2 6-2 and wins his eighteenth Slam title

A final without a story, won by three sets to zero on Daniil Medvedev, gives Novak Djokovic his ninth success at the Australian Open and 18th overall in the Grand Slam tournaments. A frightening showdown by the Serbian who finished 7-5 6-2 6-2 in an hour and 53 minutes. With his usual tennis of pressure and regularity Nole has defused all the certainties that the Russian had gained in recent months, with 20 victories in a row, with the success at the London Masters and with the excellent behavior held over the two Melbourne weeks. But when the stakes are raised, at the level of Grand Slam finals, the heart and experience of the so-called old men always seems to have the better of the new recruits. With the exception of the finals they played between them, the last defeat of a Fab Four in a Grand Slam final against a player younger than them was the success of Juan Martin Del Potro at the US Open 2009.

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THE FINAL

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Djokovic starts the match with the ace number 101 of the tournament and easily holds the bar at fifteen. Medvedev, on the other hand, misses two straight crosses, goes under 15-40 and immediately gives up the bar. The first serve helps the Russian to keep, after 10 minutes of the game, the serve with Nole already ahead 3-0. But when Nole goes to serve to confirm the break, Medvedev wins a very long exchange which culminated with the short ball missed by the Serbian, who then misses a smash to rebound from the back allowing the counter break. Medvedev keeps the bar at zero and hits his rival on 3 all. The two arrive at the hot games without further hesitation. At 5-6, however, Medvedev starts the game under 0-15, after a great attack by Nole on the Russian’s forehand. Medvedev puts a passerby in the corridor and goes under 0-30. Djokovic wins three consecutive set points with a backhand passantone. The Russian magically regains the first, cancels the first two set points, but on the third he puts a forehand that sends Nole forward one 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 again in trouble and with an exceptional return game, Nole places the counter-break for the 1-1. The Serbian plays at a very high level and the Russian does not keep pace. Another break and Nole spreads up to 4-1, then 5-2 and finally closing the set with another break. At the beginning of the third set Medvedev finds two break points, but Nole recovers from 15-40 and starts in the lead also in the third fraction. Nole owns the pitch and flies 3-0 forward with ease. The Russian goes in gusts that have no effect on the Serbian’s solid and precise tennis. At 5-2 Medvedev misses yet another straight cross and for the number 1 in the world there is the first match point which closes by harpooning a semi smash that is not at all simple. It is the apotheosis for a great champion who, not surprisingly, played the best match of the tournament in the final.

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THE NUMBERS

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For Novak Djokovic it is the ninth victory in the Australian Open, the third consecutive (only Nadal has won a Grand Slam several times, 13 Roland Garros) and the 18th overall in the Grand Slam tournaments (9 Australian Open, a Roland Garros, 5 Wimbledon and 3 US Open). The Serbian moves for the first time in his career only two slams away from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Serbian remains number 1 in the world and on 8 March next week 311 will begin as a king, one more than the all-time record held, still 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 6 won by Rafaeal Nadal, the other terrible old man in tennis history (Federer is stuck at 4, like Laver and Rosewall). Medvedev comes out beaten from his second Grand Slam final and can only console himself by thinking that he has risen to world number 3 for the first time (Medvedev and Thiem change 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 ranking since July 2005 when Lleyton Hewitt succeeded.

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