It wasn’t one other five-set capitulation however the outcome was the identical, with Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas enduring one other grand slam failure by the hands of Novak Djokovic.
The 24-year-old’s lengthy wait to win his first main continued after Djokovic stormed to his tenth Australian Open crown, taking Sunday evening’s title decider 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5).
As effectively as a grand slam trophy Tsitsipas missed the chance to maneuver to world No.1 within the rankings, with the Serbian famous person additionally regaining that honour with the victory.
It was Tsitsipas’s first closing in Melbourne and second at a serious after he was famously crushed by Djokovic within the 2021 French Open after profitable the primary two units.
Adding to his fame of faltering when it issues most, he is additionally a four-time grand slam semi-final loser.
Pre-match, the world No.4 insisted he wasn’t haunted by the Roland Garros collapse, however Tsitsipas began nervously.
Unable to match the 22-time grand slam champion from the again of the courtroom, he gave up the primary set in 36 minutes.
Mixing up his recreation and unsettling Djokovic together with his serve, Tsitsipas labored his approach into the match and had a set level within the second.
However his bursts of brilliance had been tempered by Djokovic’s dogged pursuit of one other Open victory, with the veteran prevailing in a tiebreak.
Tsitsipas broke early within the third to tease of a fightback and threw all the pieces at Djokovic to once more pressure a tiebreak, however the 35-year-old had the entire solutions.
“It’s not easy. Another final at a grand slam, but I’m always willing to go back on court and work harder,” mentioned a shattered Tsitsipas, who has misplaced his final 10 matches towards Djokovic.
Accepting the runners-up trophy from four-time former Australian Open champion Ken Rosewall, Tsitsipas paid tribute to the champion and mentioned Djokovic was the most effective participant of all-time.
“I’ve had the privilege to play a lot of difficult, high-intensity matches but I would like to say one more time Novak brings the best out in me,” he mentioned.
“He’s the one of the greatest in our sport and I think – he’s the greatest that has ever held a tennis racquet for sure.”
Then to Djokovic, he added: “I’d like to thank you for pushing our sport, every single player, every single individual that’s involved in the sport to the max.”
Djokovic conceded that Tsitsipas was the higher participant within the second set, and was relieved he did not must go the gap as he did in Paris.
He predicted that Tsitsipas could be a grand slam champion earlier than lengthy.
“He’s knocking on the door of grand slam title and I told him that he is going to win it, it’s just a matter of time,” Djokovic mentioned.
“I know that Rafa (Rafael Nadal) and myself will make sure that the young guys don’t take too many slams for a little while, but it’s inevitable.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
