Page 15 - aruba-today-20230130

A15
sports Monday 30 January 2023

Novak Djokovic claims 10th Australian Open title, 22nd Slam

By Howard Fendrich to match rival Rafael Nadal prompting repeated pleas
Associated Press for the most by a man. for quiet from the chair um-
MELBOURNE, Australia Only two women — Marga- pire, Djokovic was superior
(AP) — Novak Djokovic ret Court, with 24, and Ser- throughout, especially so in
climbed into the Rod Laver ena Williams, with 23 — are the two tiebreakers.
Arena stands to celebrate ahead of him. This was also “Very emotional for us.
his 10th Australian Open the 93rd ATP tour-level title Very emotional for him,”
championship and record- for Djokovic, breaking a tie said Djokovic’s coach,
tying 22nd Grand Slam title with Nadal for the fourth- Goran Ivanisevic. “It’s a
Sunday and, after jumping most. “I would like to thank great achievement. It was
and pumping his fists with you for pushing our sport so a really tough three weeks
his team, he collapsed far,” Tsitsipas told Djokovic. for him. He managed to
onto his back, crying. “He is the greatest,” Tsit- overcome everything.”
When he returned to the sipas said, “that has ever Djokovic acknowledged all
playing surface, Djokovic held a tennis racket.” of the issues created strain
sat on his sideline bench, Djokovic was participat- for him. “It took an enor- Novak Djokovic of Serbia kisses the Norman Brookes Challenge
buried his face in a white ing in his 33rd major final, mous amount of mental Cup after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the men's
towel and sobbed some Tsitsipas in his second — and emotional energy,” singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Mel-
more. and the 24-year-old from Djokovic said, “to really bourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023.
This trip to Australia was far Greece also lost the other, keep it tight, keep my fo- (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
more successful than that at the 2021 French Open, cus.”
of a year ago — when he to Djokovic. Keep in mind: It’s not as a product of tension than errors, 20 fewer than his foe.
was deported because On a cool evening under a though Tsitsipas played anything. It’s that Djokovic Too speedy and flexible on
he was not vaccinated cloud-filled sky, and with a all that poorly, other than was too unyielding. Too the run (other than when,
against COVID-19 — al- soundtrack of chants from a rash of early miscues accurate with his strokes, moving to his left, Djokovic
though difficult in its own supporters of both men that seemed to be more making merely 22 unforced took a tumble).q
ways: a bad hamstring;
some off-court tumult in-
volving his father. Yet
Djokovic accomplished
all he could have possibly
wanted in his return: He re-
sumed his winning ways at
Melbourne Park and made
it back to the top of tennis,
declaring: “This probably
is the, I would say, biggest
victory of my life.”
Only briefly challenged
in the final, Djokovic was
simply better at the most
crucial moments and beat
Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6
(4), 7-6 (5). As a bonus,
Djokovic will vault from No.
5 to No. 1 in the ATP rank-
ings, a spot he already has
held for more weeks than
any other man.
“This has been one of the
most challenging tourna-
ments I’ve ever played in
my life, considering the cir-
cumstances. Not playing
last year; coming back this
year,” Djokovic said, wear-
ing a zip-up white jacket
with a “22” on his chest.
“And I want to thank all the
people that made me feel
welcome, made me feel
comfortable, to be in Mel-
bourne, to be in Australia.”
there in the Open era,
which dates to 1968. He
adds trophy No. 10 to the
seven from Wimbledon,
three from the U.S. Open —
where he also was absent
last year because of no
coronavirus shots — and
two from the French Open,