Djokovic wins 10th Australian Open, 22nd grand slam

Novak Djokovic stamped his invincibility in Melbourne as he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6/3, 7/6(4), 7/6(4) in three hours and 10 minutes of action at the Rod Laver Arena. It was his 10th straight victory in a final match of the Australian Open and it tied Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 grand slam titles.

Djokovic took the first point of the match, on his serve as Tsitsipas missed a service return. He held serve at love while his opponent was taken to deuce before leveling. The critical service break occurred in the fourth game when Tsitsipas served a double fault. The gap remained to the end of the first set after 36 minutes of play.

The second set was a 70-minute battle. Each player held serve, but in the 10th game, Djokovic saved a break point that could have given Tsitsipas the second set. Thereafter, he got the first advantage and clinched the game for five-all.

Tsitsipas delivered his 10th ace of the match in winning the 11th game at love. But he lost the first point on serve in the tiebreak and conceded two min-breaks for a 4-2 Djokovic lead at changeover.

The Serb served his second match double fault to 4-3, but took three consecutive points to win the tie break by seven points to four. Djokovic saved three break points in the first game of the third set, but Tsitsipas cancelled a break point in the second game. None of the remaining games in the set reached deuce, but Tsitsipas had a close shave before taking the 10th game while serving to save the match at 4-5.

The Greek star also had the same critical point in the 12th game, which he held with the help of his 15th ace. Djokovic took the first point on serve in the tie break and after Tsitsipas conceded two service points, the Serb took a 5-0 lead that progressed