History inevitably repeats itself with the 35-year-old tennis legend bagging his 10th Australian Open in an emphatic win over the young Greek, Stefanos Tsitsipas that struggled under pressure and lost his second major final. The Serbian was the name of the tournament since the first round, after entrance was denied to him in last year’s competition, he certainly came back for more. He stormed past all seven of his opponents, with only dropping one set, his immaculate form maintained throughout the competition almost flawless, trusting his experience and technique, always prepared to use his skills while maintaining his game management ruthless mentality and knocking his opponents out one by one.
The final had more than just a trophy on the line, as with a win, both players had the chance to be the new number 1 in the world ranking, with Djokovic well familiar with the sport but it would be a very first career-high for Tsitsipas.
Djokovic was mildly criticized because of his easy draw that for some it was “ the easiest path to the final, without any huge star name opponents", after Nadal shock-exit early, only in the second round and the big names that followed in early stages such as Berrettini, Ruud, Murray and Auger-Aliassime, that were the only real threat to Djokovic’s 10th Australian Open title.
On the women’s side of the competition, world number two currently, Aryna Sabalenka claimed her first ever major title after a hard fought final with the rising star of the sport and Wimbledon title holder Elena Rybakina that was the first player to take a set off Sabalenka this year. Both players took some big names out of the competition and deserved a spot in the final, Sabalenka on her way to the title defeated Rogers, Bencic and Martens, while Rybakina knocked out Ostapenko, Collins and world number 1 Iga Swiatek with a 4-6, 4-6 and defeating all the odds, both players had a lot on the line and that was proven during the game with amazing tennis from both sides.
The Belarusian player has been amongst the headlines for several years now, without being able to get her hands on a major trophy, this title win made her jump from world number 5 to restoring her world number 2 ranking and certainly being the one to beat this year as she climbs towards the glory of the world number 1 spot if she manages to maintain her winning form and intensity that tends to scare her opponents.
