Australian Open: Djokovic reacts to a great Thiem, wins his seventeenth major and places two of Nadal

He won 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-4 and 6-4, in three hours and 59 minutes to get his eighth victory in Melbourne. Snatch number one into Spanish

• Djokovic
  

  “I'm sure Thiem win more than one big”
  

Used to officiate as cruel executor on a track where he rarely admits reply, to Novak Djokovic this time he played the role of survivor. He knew how to assume it before a formidable Dominic Thiem, who had the victory close, but, like it happened in his two Roland Garros finals before Rafael Nadal, had to settle for having been a decent finalist. The Serbian rose from a deep crisis developed after suffering a warning followed by a penalty of the chair judge for exceeding the time of the serve and made the enormous difference of rennet prevail in these types of situations. It was his twenty-seventh final of a Grand Slam, the eighth in a tournament where he has won all the disputed. I won by 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3 and 6-4, after three hours and 49 minutes. (Narration and statistics)

Add his seventeenth large, leaving two of Nadal and three of Federer. Five of the last seven have been his. It also recovers the number 1 in the world, which was in the hands of Nadal since last November, and maintains its unbeatable in 2020: a total of 13 wins, after starting the course leading Serbia in the conquest of the ATP Cup. Winner in the Australian Open in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020, Djokovic becomes the first player to win Grand Slam tournaments in three different decades.

The Austrian had had no fortune in his final three of majors: twice in Roland Garros against the best ever on earth and now in Melbourne against who may deserve that hard track cataloging. I played at the height of the great tournament he has made, where he eliminated Nadal in the quarterfinals.

The penalty

After giving up the first set with a double foul, he took command in the second, thanks to a breakIn the fourth game. Djokovic reaction is equal to four, but then the Austrian broke again to stand 5-4. In this game, the Serbian received the warning for exceeding in the time of the first serve and the next point was penalized, this time already with the obligation to take out directly with second. Thiem the same after a set. “Great job,” Djokovic said with irony to the chair judge at the end of that ninth game, after touching him three times with his hand on one foot.

The incident not only unbalanced the Serbian in that set, but also generated one of serious consequences. Thiem was serious. While Djokovic's blows lose their edge, the aspirant seemed to play in a trance. Fast, precise and with the usual violence in his blows, he handled the points with precise changes in heights. The eight-time champion of the tournament was a soul in sorrow, he walked along the track under the fierce scourge of his rival, firm, faithful to his game plan. Little did it matter to Thiem to have appeared to the game with much more wear, six hours more than his rival to reach the final, nor the fact of having enjoyed a day less rest when playing the second semifinal. His proposal was brutal.

It is true that he came to win in his last two crosses and dominated 2-1 face-to-face in Grand Slam tournaments, but now he was in Djokovic territory, faced with a very difficult task, from which Nadal himself went badly a year ago Thiem was two sets one up and enjoyed the ball of breakto stand with a 2-1 advantage in the room, but it was Nolewho broke in the eighth, helped by a double fault of his adversary, and took the match to the fifth set. The Austrian remained in combat, but could not return from the serve delivered in the third game. The level that your tennis has reached invites you to think that it will not take long to have a new opportunity to become truly great.