Novak Djokovic wins his 22nd Grand Slam title and equals Nadal’s record

He’s back on top. By winning his tenth Australian Open on Sunday January 29 in Melbourne, Novak Djokovic will once again be world number one in tennis on Monday. Above all, he equals the record of 22 Grand Slam titles held by Rafael Nadal.

The 35-year-old Serb beat Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5) in the final. The latter will again become 3rd in the world on Monday, behind the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz who was absent in Melbourne due to an injury. Once the victory was assured on a final fault of his opponent, Djokovic went up to his box to kiss his team including his coach Goran Ivanisevic and his mother Dijana and collapsed there in tears.

Dominating the whole match, Novak Djokovic did not seem at all bothered by his thigh injury. He also played for the first time in the tournament without his huge bandage. Like Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros, he has never lost in the final in Melbourne where he now holds the record of ten titles.

A victorious return

Expelled from Australia last year before the start of the tournament, Novak Djokovic could only observe, powerless, the strong comeback of Rafael Nadal who had taken a step ahead in the race for Grand Slam titles with a 21st major title (20 for Djokovic and Federer). A few months later, the Spaniard pushed his advantage at Roland-Garros.

Winner then at Wimbledon but banned from entering the United States for the US Open, the Serb therefore had to wait for the Australian Major to come back up to Rafael Nadal on Sunday. These impossibilities to play and the absence of points distributed at Wimbledon made him lose his place as number 1 last year.

He recovered it on Sunday and will begin his 374th week on Monday at the top of the world hierarchy, a new record. Since 2021, he has also held the record for the number of seasons finished in number 1. For his part, Stefanos Tsitsipas was playing his second Grand Slam final after Roland-Garros in 2021 where he had already been beaten by Djokovic, but in five rounds and after winning the first two.

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