The Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic has once again strengthened his iron fist on the Australian Open. Novak defeated Austria’s Dominic Thiem in a dramatic final that would have a lot of ebbs and flows. The defending champion came back from a 2 sets to 1 deficit to hold his 8th Norman Brookes championship trophy and 17th Grand Slam in total. This puts Novak further close to his 2 great rivals Roger and Rafa in the Grand Slam race. Let’s look back at the match and how Novak became the monarch of Melbourne once again in 2020.
Djokovic Draws First Blood
The 1st set started with Novak Djokovic stamping his initial authority on the match right away. The Serb broke Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the very 2nd game. The World Number 2 was making every service game difficult for the World Number 5. However Dominic Thiem appeared to be settling his nerves and managed to get the break back. The set would get further dramatic as Novak raised his game at 5-4.
Thiem who was serving to stay in the match was put under immediate pressure. Two set points were on the offering and in the most uncharacteristic way Thiem double faulted on the 2nd one. The 7 time champion Novak Djokovic had now drawn the initial lead by winning the very 1st set of the final match. It was the 1st of three steps towards the Serb’s 17th Grand Slam and regaining the World Number 1 ranking.
Thiem Levels Back
The Austrian Thiem however quickly gained hold of himself and calmed his nerves. He raised his game a notch further to break Novak in the 3rd game of the 2nd set. Djokovic would however break back a couple of games later and again began to appear in control of the match.
That control would last to very less time as Thiem who was now playing much more calmly broke the World Number 1 again in the very next game. Novak who was given a time violation twice in the game appeared to be rattled and was losing his concentration as well as the accuracy of his shots. Thiem then faced a bit of resistance from Djokovic while serving for the set but did it successfully. The Austrian star had now put himself on level terms and the match was well and truly on at Rod Laver arena.
Thiem Takes The Lead
If the 1st and 2nd sets were tight and intense, the 3rd set was a bit of an anticlimax. Dominic Thiem who had now put himself back in the match found his confidence and rhythm tuning fine. His best weapon the single handed backhand was also now working fine. Thiem raced through the 3rd set to break Djokovic twice and take an unprecedented 4-0 lead.
Novak appeared to be both in physical and mental discomfort. He did try his way back in the set by holding his own serves after that as well as also putting Thiem’s service games under pressure. However, Thiem was determined not to allow the advantage go to waste. He did hold his own serves and closed the set out 6-2. It was the 1st time in his 3 Grand Slam finals that Thiem was leading in the match. He was now just one set away from the 1st Grand Slam success of his career.
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Djokovic Comes Back
The 4th set was going neck to neck for the initial 7 games with each player getting his serves right. However in the 8th game Thiem served a bit error prone. That was all needed for the 7 time champion Djokovic to wrestle back his control on the match. Novak broke Thiem and then went on to hold his serve to love.
The Serb now took a crucial set and thus leveled himself back in the match. It would now need a 5th set shootout to decide the 2020 Australian Open Men’ s single champion. The intensity of the match was suddenly back and it would be the 3rd successive Grand Slam final since Wimbledon 2019 to go to 5 sets.
Djokovic Goes All The Way
The 5th set saw Djokovic bring his game to another level after a period of lull. He broke Thiem in the early stages and then fought many break-back points to hold his serve and edge himself closer to the match and the championship. As the clock neared the 4 hour mark at Melbourne Park, Novak Djokovic was serving himself to the championship. He had 2 championship points and only needed one. A wide shot from Thiem gave Djokovic the Australian Open trophy once more time.
It is now Novak Djokovic’s 8th success in Australia and his 17th Grand Slam title. The Serb had to work hard for this once but it was well worth it. The success in 2020 Australian Open means that Djokovic is now just 2 slams behind Rafael Nadal and for the 1st time only 3 slams behind Roger Federer’s count of 20 Grand Slams. Djokovic will also be the World Number 1 again when the new ATP rankings are announced on Monday. The Serb will have an opportunity to add to his 275 weeks at World Number 1 and close the gap with Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, the only 2 players ahead of Djokovic in the total Weeks at World Number 1.
That is all for we have for you from Melbourne Park as the Australian Open 2020 comes to a close. We hope that we enjoyed our coverage of this glorious fortnight in the great city of Melbourne.