After four hours and sixteen minutes of exhilarating tennis at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, Novak Djokovic overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6(4), 3-6, 4-6, 6-1 on the final night of the 2024 Australian Open. It was a true masterpiece. Playing for the first Grand Slam championship of the year, the top two players in the world faced off in an exciting final that began at 7:30 p.m. local time on a warm summer’s evening. What ensued was a psychological and physical duel to the death between the ravenous 35-year-old Serb and his 24-year-old Greek opponent. Djokovic struck first, breaking in the sixth game and finishing the opening set 6-3 with ease, all in just 39 minutes of play. The number one seed seemed to be extremely perceptive and eerily tuned in from the start. To his immense credit, Tsitsipas, who began to pose a threat to Djokovic with his powerful baseline groundstrokes, recovered well to force a tiebreak in the second set. After this, the 21-time Grand Slam winner was never less resolute; he won the breaker 7-4 after trailing 4-3 at one point. A spectacular backhand winner by Djokovic, who appeared to be wrong-footed at the time, was seen on camera as he quickly changed foot placement and transferred his weight to crush a crosscourt missile. Vintage stuff from the Serb. It seemed as though Tsitsipas’s time was running out at two sets to love up and with a 16-match winning streak in the Australian Open finals. However, as he has repeatedly demonstrated throughout his brief career, the Greek is a fierce rival who never backs down. Encouraged by a sizable group of Greek Australian spectators, Tsitsipas began to dominate forehand strokes and found more shot weight to force Djokovic back behind the baseline. It paid off as the third seed won the third set 6-3 and then took the early lead in the fourth set as the tide turned. All of a sudden, Djokovic was there, appearing worn out and maybe sensing the passing of time. In the fourth set, Tsitsipas was able to tie the match at 6-4, igniting a raucous cheer from the anticipating spectators and setting up an exciting fifth and decisive set. Before the last verse, both players took a comfort break as the drama and anxiety inside Rod Laver Arena reached a fever pitch. Who will overcome their agony to leave their mark on history? The reason was soon apparent, as Djokovic gave it everything he had to reclaim his match poise and merciless aggressiveness. Surprisingly, the top seed seemed to gain strength as the match progressed, bludgeoning deep groundstrokes that overpowered Tsitsipas’s defence. After winning the fifth set 6-1 to complete the most arduously fought straight-set victory, Djokovic fell to the court in celebration of his tenth Australian Open title. The critical break came at 3-1. He becomes the second man in the Open Era to win 22 Grand Slam singles championships, behind Rafael Nadal. In the crucial moments, Djokovic was just too excellent, as Tsitsipas humbly admitted afterwards. In the fifth set, the Serb’s extraordinary defence and counterpunching left the great champion flat-footed and unprepared for the daring Greeks. “There was a fine line throughout the entire contest. One or two points can swing these sorts of matches very rapidly, so I just kept telling myself to be present in the moment,” Djokovic remarked. “That was the most physically and psychologically taxing five-set match I have ever played. It’s nice to overcome it and achieve such a historic Grand Slam title. For Tsitsipas, despite the heartbreaking nature of the loss, there is plenty to be grateful for. He’s making a name for himself as a fighter who can compete on the grandest stages against the greatest fighters of all time. “I was out there swinging and believing I could win up until the very last point,” Tsitsipas explained. “To take a champion like Novak to nearly five hours, with the chances I had, that’s very promising for my game.” As Djokovic continues to advance with unwavering determination, Tsitsipas will soon have his moment in the spotlight as a multiple Grand Slam winner if he continues on this current path. One of the most spectacular and excellent Grand Slam finals in recent memory will be remembered as this most recent classic between the two. With its unique combination of technical mastery and psychological warfare played out to the very end, the intense match illustrated all the reasons why tennis is a drama that you just must witness. It was an honour for the supporters inside Rod Laver to watch two fighters give it their all on the Melbourne battlefield. They were given a night they will never, ever forget, and they flowed out of the famous arena as the clock approached midnight. The unfathomable talent that is Novak Djokovic has once again shown why he is the most psychologically tough and tenacious player of his time by becoming the first person to win ten Australian Open titles. It was a really impressive feat.
