Novak Djokovic beats Daniil Medvedev to claim ninth Australian Open title
ADVERTISEMENTNovak Djokovic’s Australian Open dominance is intact after his victory over Daniil Medvedev on Sunday.
He now has nine finals, nine championships under his belt and keeps gaining on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam standings, now up to 18 overall, two away from the men’s record shared by his two rivals.
Djokovic used superb serving and his usual relentless returning and baseline supremacy to grab 11 of 13 games in one stretch and beat a visibly frustrated Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday for a third trophy in a row at Melbourne Park.
The 33-year-old Serbian improved to 18-0 combined in semifinals and finals on the hard courts of the Australian Open.
Looking at the bigger picture, Djokovic has won six of the last 10 major tournaments and is sure to remain top in the rankings at least until March 8. That will give him 311 weeks in the top spot, breaking a mark held by Federer.
The Number 4-ranked Medvedev was appearing in his second Grand Slam final — he was the runner-up to Nadal at the 2019 US Open — but is still left trying to collect his first such championship.
Djokovic ended the 25-year-old Russian’s 20-match winning streak. Medvedev also had won his previous 12 matches against Top 10 opponents.
But going up against Djokovic in Australia was a much different challenge.
By the second set, as things slipped away, Medvedev bounced his white racket off the blue court, then absolutely destroyed it with a full-on spike. By the third, he kept looking up at his coach with his palms facing upwards, apparently looking for guidance.
The maths looks good for Djokovic. He is about a year younger than Nadal and 6 1/2 younger than Federer, who turns 40 in August. Federer hasn’t competed in more than a year after having two knee operations but is expected to turn to the tour next month.