Melbourne: An imperious Novak Djokovic won a record magnificent seventh Australian Open title by routing Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 Sunday with a display of flawless tennis.
The Serbian world number one dominated the Spanish second seed to win his 15th Grand Slam title in just 2hr 4min on Rod Laver Arena. It put Djokovic, 31, out on his own ahead of Roger Federer and Roy Emerson, who both won six Australian Open men’s singles titles.
Djokovic dropped to the court and kissed the ground after vanquishing his greatest rival. No two men have met more often in the Open Era, this was their 53rd meeting, and no pair have pushed one another harder or further.
Their only previous final in Australia, in 2012, developed into a record-breaking 5hr 53min slugfest — the longest in Grand Slam history. A repeat of that epic never materialised with Nadal uncharacteristically nervous at the start and Djokovic taking immediate advantage. The Spaniard had not had his service broken since the third set of his first round match but that streak ended in a flash as the Serb came sprinting out of the blocks. Djokovic was in imperious control on his own delivery and won his first four service games without conceding a single point, even inducing Nadal to miss a forehand completely on the way to grabbing the set in 36 minutes.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with Djokovic racing through games on his own serve, while Nadal struggled to hold. The pressure told in the fifth game and Djokovic broke again when Nadal hit a lob volley long after an exchange at the net. Djokovic had only conceded two points on serve in the entire match to this point but Nadal had his first sniff at breaking when he got to 30-15 ahead and deuce, twice.
Djokovic had to withstand pressure for the first time in the match, overcoming the threat with a roar and a fist pump to go 4-2 ahead. The on-song Serb was so fired up he came straight out and broke Nadal again to go to 5-2 before serving out for a two-set lead with three aces in a row with just 1hr 16min on the clock.
The statistics were as telling as the scoreline: Djokovic had served eight aces to Nadal’s one and made just four unforced errors while the Spaniard had coughed up 20. When Djokovic broke again in the third game of the third set it was just a matter of how quickly he would finish off Nadal.
The end was swift, as Djokovic withstood one break point at 3-2 before administering the last rites in a flurry of winners off both wings. Victory extended his win-loss record against Nadal to 28-25 and squared the Grand Slam final count between the pair at 4-4.
Djokovic has now completed a hat-trick of Slams following his wins at Wimbledon and the US Open. He will go to Paris in May for the French Open seeking to become the only man in the Open Era to win all four majors twice.Rafael Nadal said he took a lot of positives out of the Australian Open on his return from injury, despite being thrashed in the final Sunday by Novak Djokovic.
The Spanish second seed had played an outstanding level of tennis at the tournament without dropping a set until he met his arch-rival on Rod Laver Arena. And he had no answer to the world number one’s booming groundstrokes and precision serve to limp out of Melbourne Park 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Nadal said he still wasn’t at his best after his injury-plagued 2018.
“Was unbelievable the way that he played, no doubt about that. But at the same time it is true that probably physically I was not able (to compete at that level),” said Nadal.
“Five months without competing, having that big challenge in front of me, I needed something else. That something else probably today, I don’t have it yet. “That’s my feeling, to compete at this super high level.” Despite the rout, Nadal said he was content with being able to reach the final given the injury problems that prevented him playing any matches after the US Open until he got to Melbourne.
On the other hand, French pair Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut defeated Finland’s Henri Kontinen and Australian John Peers 6-4 7-6 (7-1) to win their maiden Australian Open men’s doubles title on Sunday. With the virtue of this win, Herbert-Mahut became the 8th doubles team to complete the Career Grand Slam. The French duo, fifth-seeded at the season’s first Grand Slam, broke Kontinen’s serve at 4-4 to clinch the first set by 6-4. The second set went on serve before Herbert and Mahut got the upper hand in the tie-breaker, winning the finale in an hour and 38 minutes at the Rod Laver Arena. Earlier, Australia’s Samantha Stosur and China’s Zhang Shuai teamed up to win the women’s doubles on Friday afternoon. (AFP)
