Watch: Deportation, injury, deflation – Novak Djokovic’s 10th Australian Open triumph trumps all

In drawing stage with Rafael Nadal’s file 22 Grand Slam titles, Novak Djokovic reignited the talk about who’s the best males’s tennis participant of all time.

For some, the Serb settled it along with his record-extending tenth Australian Open crown.

Certainly his vanquished opponent on Rod Laver Arena thinks so.

“He’s the greatest that has ever held a tennis racquet, for sure,” mentioned Stefanos Tsitsipas after shedding 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5).

It appears inevitable that Djokovic, who returned to world primary along with his dominant victory in Sunday’s last, will win extra Slams.

At 35 he’s a 12 months youthful than nice rival Nadal and aside from hamstring bother early on in Melbourne, he seems to be in glorious bodily form.

In distinction, Nadal’s battered physique broke down once more on the Australian Open and he limped out with defeat within the second spherical, his title defence over and the Spaniard in ache with a hip damage.

Roger Federer, the third of the “Big Three” who’ve dominated males’s tennis for the previous 15 years, retired final 12 months with 20 Grand Slam titles.

Federer will all the time be the “people’s champion” within the eyes of many due to the sleek method he performed, however it’s Djokovic who appears to be like primed to drag away with the file variety of males’s main crowns.

– ‘Soak it in’ –

Djokovic appears to thrive on ache and feed off adversity.

Two years in the past he gained in Australia regardless of tearing abdomen muscle tissue, this 12 months it was a hamstring that didn’t enable him to practise between matches.

If not for Djokovic’s vaccine standing, which noticed him deported from Australia a 12 months in the past and prevented him competing on the US Open, he could effectively have already been on 23 or 24 Slam wins.

“Haha, I told you. We created a monster… Sat on my couch and enjoyed the entire show. Soak it all in,” Nick Kyrgios, overwhelmed by Djokovic within the Wimbledon last final 12 months, tweeted on Sunday.

Nadal, at 36, might be able to recuperate from his newest damage and even discover the need to attain one other triumph on the clay of Roland Garros in May.

But he’s a brand new dad and because the calls develop from household and associates to cease punishing his physique, he may bow out sooner somewhat than later.

There is a principle that he may name it quits at this 12 months’s French Open.

It is his favorite event and a fifteenth title there would supply a story-book ending.

– Polarising –

Djokovic solely seems to be getting higher with age and the “Next Gen” of younger expertise are nonetheless unable to get close to him over 5 units.

His coach, Goran Ivanisevic, believes there are a couple of extra years on the prime — and extra Slams — to return.

“Definitely two, three more years,” Ivanisevic advised reporters after Sunday’s last.

“The way he’s taking care of his body, the way he approaches everything, the food, it’s amazing. It’s unbelievable the level.”

Some tennis followers will all the time take convincing to simply accept Djokovic as the best, regardless of what the variety of Grand Slam titles says.

He polarises opinion, whereas Federer and Nadal are universally beloved for the way they’re on and off the courtroom.

There are those that see one thing too calculating within the intense, brooding Djokovic.

Controversy is rarely distant.

Last 12 months it was his Covid vaccination standing. This 12 months it was his father Srdjan posing with a fan holding a Russian flag that includes Vladimir Putin’s face.

Before that, Djokovic’s notorious default from the US Open in 2020 for petulantly swiping a ball which hit a feminine line decide laid his character naked, mentioned the critics.

But Djokovic supporters say these traits are what have pushed him to glory.

Djokovic clearly felt impacted by the controversies this 12 months and talked actually about them, whereas earlier than he could have simply batted questions away.

It “hurts him and me” he mentioned after they determined that his father wouldn’t be courtside to see him win the Australian Open.

It was one of many causes an emotional Djokovic known as Sunday’s title “the biggest victory in my life”.

The Grand Slam numbers don’t lie. But gaining common acceptance from tennis followers as “the greatest” could also be a good greater achievement.

[Story and footage from AFP]