Novak Djokovic wins ninth Australian Open by beating Daniil Medvedev

Novak Djokovic continued his dominance of the Australian Open by overwhelming an irritated Daniil Medvedev to win a record-extending ninth men's title.

Top seed Djokovic won 7-5 6-2 6-2 to claim his 18th Grand Slam, leaving him two behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the men's record books.

The 33-year-old Serb has never lost a final at Melbourne Park and beating Medvedev is a third triumph in a row.

Russian fourth seed Medvedev, 25, has lost both of his Grand Slam finals.

After collecting the trophy, Djokovic told the Rod Laver Arena: "I love you each year more and more. The love affair keeps going."

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Medvedev, who lost to Nadal in the 2019 US Open final, was tipped to push Djokovic close and win his maiden major.

The Russian had reached the Melbourne final on the back of a 20-match winning streak, but floundered under the intense pressure applied by Djokovic.

Throwing racquets, poor body language and shouting angrily at his team were an illustration of how the Russian imploded in the third set, contrasting starkly with Djokovic's confident and steely exterior.

Djokovic clinched the title after one hour and 53 minutes with a backhand overhead volley, falling to the blue court on his back before lapping up the acclaim of the reduced 7,500 crowd.

Djokovic roared loudly and tapped his heart, before exchanging hugs with coach Goran Ivanisevic and the rest of his support team.

After thinking an abdominal injury earlier in the tournament might scupper his chances, the pride and relief of Team Djokovic was clear in their celebrations.

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Brilliant Djokovic refuses to 'hand over' to younger generation

In-form Medvedev had, perhaps playfully, insisted "all the pressure" was on Djokovic because of his desire to chase Nadal and Federer in the battle to finish with the most men's Grand Slams titles.

Maybe it was a ploy to deflect the attention off himself. Either way it did not work as Djokovic emphatically proved he is still the man to beat.

World number one Djokovic responded to Medvedev's comments with a withering tone in his assessment that the younger generation "still have a lot of work to do."

"I'm not going to stand here and hand it over to them," he told Eurosport after his semi-final win against Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev.

He was true to his word. Djokovic produced a masterclass of intensity, focus and execution, looking comfortable on a court he has described as a "home from home".

Djokovic, like he had in his previous three Melbourne finals, started quickly with an immediate break of serve as he looked to stamp his authority.

Medvedev remain unflustered – until later in the match, at least – and continued in his attempt to drag Djokovic into some gruelling baseline exchanges.

Djokovic tried to avoid long points by employing the odd drop-shot but that helped the Russian to level at 3-3.

A fascinating opening set could have swung either way, but it was the reigning champion who edged it when he unpicked Medvedev's serve again in the 12th game.

History was ominous for the Russian: Djokovic had only lost five of 264 Grand Slam matches when he had won the first set.

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Medvedev implodes as wait for Grand Slam continues

Medvedev went into the final on the back of a 20-match winning streak and had won his past 12 matches against top-10 opponents.

However, extending those runs looked unlikely once he began to implode in the second set.

After the pair exchanged breaks in the opening two games, Djokovic pounced again when a raft of unforced errors crept into Medvedev's game.

Medvedev started to look a little irritated, perhaps partly because of some disruptive fans in the previous game but mainly because he could not negate Djokovic, bouncing his racquet down on the court before the Serb moved 4-1 ahead.

Medvedev became increasingly demonstrative as Djokovic headed towards victory

The racquet survived that, but not the second thud Medvedev gave it when he whacked a forehand long for 5-2.

Djokovic sealed the two-set advantage with a crunching forehand which Medvedev could not handle.

Medvedev had never won after losing the opening two sets, but did fight back against Nadal at the 2019 US Open to force a decider.

Negativity looked to be deep-rooted, however, and the prospect of a similar fightback looked far-fetched.

There was a brief glimmer of hope at 30-30 in the seventh game of the third set, but Djokovic held for 5-2 – prodding his temple with his finger to emphasise his mental toughness – and served out to seal a one-sided win which few expected.

"We know how tough Novak is and he played a sensational final," said former British number one Annabel Croft on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"You have to be so dialled in, in all departments. Medvedev went away from the tactics he showed in the first set and went into a slump and a strop."

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Analysis – 'Astonishing performance by Djokovic'

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

This was another astonishing Australian Open final performance by Novak Djokovic, at the end of one of the most stressful Grand Slam fortnights of his career.

The abdominal injury he suffered during his third-round victory over Taylor Fritz improved faster than he thought it might. But it still compromised him for the next couple of rounds, and prevented practice on his days off.

He outlasted Milos Raonic and Alex Zverev in tense four setters, and was able to save his best until the last.

Daniil Medvedev spent much of the second half of the match in a one way conversation with his coach and wife. He was driven to distraction by Djokovic's brilliance, but he showed surprising fragility for someone with previous experience of a Grand Slam final, and so many recent wins over top 10 players.

The world number one is firmly back on track. Two Slams behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, with a six-year age advantage on the Swiss and 12 months on the Spaniard.

Where's your money?

Djokovic has won three consecutive titles at the Australian Open for the second time in his career, having also achieved the feat in 2011-13commentsView Comments560

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Comment posted by RobboTheKitten, today at 10:57RobboTheKitten

10:57I can’t put my finger on it but something about Djokovic just rankles with me. He is clearly one of the all time greats but why do I groan every time he wins a slam?206102Removed commentMore replies (67)downL

Comment posted by link2metroid, today at 11:15link2metroid

11:15Well done Djokovic. We can have a HYS for the men’s game, but not the women’s? Don’t think people don’t know the real reason why that is. Well done to Osaka as well, it’s nice when your final and celebrations aren’t ruined by your obnoxious opponent.9915M

Reply posted by mcp10, today at 11:16mcp10

11:16to link2metroid"Well done Djokovic. We can have a HYS for the men’s game, but not the women’s? Don’t think people don’t know the real reason why that is. Well done to Osaka as well, it’s nice when your final and celebrations aren’t ruined by your obnoxious opponent."mcp10 replied: Because the womens’ game is only best of 33523More replies (6)downH

Comment posted by HelpingHand, today at 11:01HelpingHand

11:01Congrats Djokovic, worthy champion. Commiserations Medvedev, worthy finalist.7215S

Reply posted by SteH11, today at 11:21SteH11

11:21to HelpingHand"Congrats Djokovic, worthy champion. Commiserations Medvedev, worthy finalist."SteH11 replied: Djokovic would have been out a week ago had he not faked his injury to disrupt his opponents rythm!!7487More replies (7)downT

Comment posted by TookOneForTheTeam, today at 10:54TookOneForTheTeam

10:54With Djokovic coming in at a time when Federer and Nadal were winning all, 18 Grand Slams is monumenral. And the style with which he demolished Medvedev was quite unbelievable given most of us thought this would be close.

What a champion and what a player. Privilege for all tennis fans to have been able to watch him all these years.9740A

Reply posted by Anthony, today at 11:20Anthony

11:20to TookOneForTheTeam"With Djokovic coming in at a time when Federer and Nadal were winning all, 18 Grand Slams is monumenral. And the style with which he demolished Medvedev was quite unbelievable given most of us thought this would be close.What a champion and what a player. Privilege for all tennis fans to have been able to watch him all these years."Anthony replied: Not just Nadal and Federer, in the mix was a prime Andy Murray and to a slightly lesser extent Stan Warwinka, they also had more tennis ability than the current crop of young guns and consistently pushed them all. It was an era like no other.659More replies (9)downC

Comment posted by chimpish79, today at 11:11chimpish79

11:11I’m a massive Federer fan but with this win Nole becomes the GOAT for me. Came along in the toughest ever era of men’s tennis, won 18GS from 28GS finals. Out of those 28 finals, 23 have been against either Federer, Nadal, Murray or Wawrinka. Add to this, the Most weeks at world number 1, every masters series title won twice. Winning head to head records against every single one of his main rivals.10858S

Reply posted by startoucher, today at 11:32startoucher

11:32to chimpish79"I’m a massive Federer fan but with this win Nole becomes the GOAT for me. Came along in the toughest ever era of men’s tennis, won 18GS from 28GS finals. Out of those 28 finals, 23 have been against either Federer, Nadal, Murray or Wawrinka. Add to this, the Most weeks at world number 1, every masters series title won twice. Winning head to head records against every single one of his main rivals."startoucher replied: Spot on mate…he is the GOAT4247More replies (21)downD

Comment posted by DrCajetanCoelho, today at 10:59DrCajetanCoelho

10:59Congratulations to champion Novak Djokovic and to challenger Daniil Medvedev.6012P

Comment posted by Petronius Philips, today at 11:10Petronius Philips

11:10It just shows! Tennis is NOT only about pre-match “mind games” and media reports, lies etc about “injuries”, it’s a HERE and NOW sport. Medvedev demolished all before the final but was himself outplayed and demolished by Djokovic and himself. Pity we weren’t treated to a five setter in this final.484H

Reply posted by Hallmarky13, today at 13:48Hallmarky13

13:48to Petronius Philips"It just shows! Tennis is NOT only about pre-match “mind games” and media reports, lies etc about “injuries”, it’s a HERE and NOW sport. Medvedev demolished all before the final but was himself outplayed and demolished by Djokovic and himself. Pity we weren’t treated to a five setter in this final."Hallmarky13 replied: But if it had been tight or maybe he was trailing, you can be sure that Djokovic would have pulled one of his many injury stunts to unsettle his opponent. It often pays dividends for him in close matches and everyone knows about it.159P

Comment posted by pops1980, today at 11:21pops1980

11:21Awesome performance by Novak. For me, this was a MUST win for Novak to close the gap on Fedal. Really impressed by his forehand and serve these days. He mixed it up as didnt want to be stuck in a baseline slug which Danil may well have one..Must have been confusing for the Novak haters when Danil said how humble and friendly he was when he was a lowly world no 500…437B

Comment posted by Billy Goat Gruff, today at 11:36Billy Goat Gruff

11:36Congrats to Naomi Osaka, 4 of the last 10 slams without losing beyond the QF. Amazing.

Also to Novak, 9 at one event is amazing.383B

Comment posted by Barbarus, today at 11:22Barbarus

11:22What an incomprehensible envy and hate on the part of so many commentators here! What, the guy managed to sneak his way into winning EIGHTEEN grand slams by fraud? Just listen to yourselves. Not to speak of discrediting him on account of his ethnic origin. There is a name for it, and it doesn’t belong to the world of sports…5419J

Reply posted by Jacks Sock, today at 12:08Jacks Sock

12:08to Barbarus"What an incomprehensible envy and hate on the part of so many commentators here! What, the guy managed to sneak his way into winning EIGHTEEN grand slams by fraud? Just listen to yourselves. Not to speak of discrediting him on account of his ethnic origin. There is a name for it, and it doesn’t belong to the world of sports…"Jacks Sock replied: It’s not incomprehensible at all. I don’t hate the guy but I dislike his antics. Try to understand why it is people get fed-up with that.4619D

Comment posted by DVB78, today at 12:06DVB78

12:06Regardless of who ends up with most GM’s, i think we should be thankful we witnessed this era, with Federer, NDal and Djokovic. Its unlikely to happen again…282D

Reply posted by dingyman, today at 12:09dingyman

12:09to DVB78"Regardless of who ends up with most GM’s, i think we should be thankful we witnessed this era, with Federer, NDal and Djokovic. Its unlikely to happen again…"dingyman replied: Never say never again !

Apologies to Ian Flemming32S

Comment posted by Specialist_in_tailoring, today at 11:03Specialist_in_tailoring

11:03Anyone seen Nick Kyrgios? Wonder what he thinks of this315J

Reply posted by Jibraeel, today at 11:08Jibraeel

11:08to Specialist_in_tailoring"Anyone seen Nick Kyrgios? Wonder what he thinks of this"Jibraeel replied: No. He’s a relative nobody. Jog on…2916More replies (3)downM

Comment posted by mcp10, today at 10:55mcp10

10:55Come on Tim4117N

Reply posted by Nick, today at 11:37Nick

11:37to mcp10"Come on Tim"Nick replied: 😄95S

Comment posted by suvindra, today at 10:55suvindra

10:55What a pity it was such a one sided AO final. I was hoping for a five setter. What a letdown from Medvedev😢. No contest at all with all those errors from Daniil. Brilliant and resilient Djokovic yet again👍.276F

Comment posted by franc lad, today at 11:10franc lad

11:10Congratulations to Novak Djokovic. Such a pity people feel the need to post such bitter ignorant comments, but might indicate why UK tennis remains so unhealthy.4323D

Reply posted by Digger, today at 12:21Digger

12:21to franc lad"Congratulations to Novak Djokovic. Such a pity people feel the need to post such bitter ignorant comments, but might indicate why UK tennis remains so unhealthy."Digger replied: More like hardly anyone in the UK cares about tennis, much less plays it. Kind of like Indians aren’t very good at snooker or the Irish aren’t great at basketball. The UK has never had a truly great tennis player, we’ve had GS winners of course and Murray was very good at his peak but never anyone on the elite, spoken of in a GOAT discussion spectrum. Take Wimbledon away, it’d be even less popular1014More replies (3)downG

Comment posted by GC, today at 10:54GC

10:54Medvedev has the talent, but crumbled mentally. Anyone got Lendl’s number?245G

Reply posted by Gurin Jeimuzu, today at 10:55Gurin Jeimuzu

10:55to GC"Medvedev has the talent, but crumbled mentally. Anyone got Lendl’s number?"Gurin Jeimuzu replied: Andy Murray does206C

Comment posted by carl , today at 10:55carl

10:55Absolutely the best. A true champion! Very well done!!3518T

Comment posted by twinprime, today at 11:16twinprime

11:16Not a fan but his peak is greater than anyone else’s. He truly is a great player.2711L

Comment posted by lordbyron, today at 11:24lordbyron

11:24The negative bias against Djokovic on this board and across elsewhere made me admire his achievements even more.

I guess the anti-Djokovic crowd fuels his determination. If you want him to lose then be nicer and praising to him. The hate is not helping.

Next stop 19th at Wimbledon! And then I will be cheering him in New York.3318S

Reply posted by Swarf051, today at 11:47Swarf051

11:47to lordbyron"The negative bias against Djokovic on this board and across elsewhere made me admire his achievements even more. I guess the anti-Djokovic crowd fuels his determination. If you want him to lose then be nicer and praising to him. The hate is not helping. Next stop 19th at Wimbledon! And then I will be cheering him in New York."Swarf051 replied: he’s a good man, family man, and he rocks when playing .. his injuries are consistent with all tennis players he deals with it and he produces the results … he knows many are scathing over him … but come on because he feigns injuries .? I don’t think he feigns them…. maybe he uses them better than others ….. in a fish bowl environment it’s the same old views from inside and OUTSIDE2511More replies (4)downM

Comment posted by MK, today at 11:49MK

11:49Contrast Medvedev’s speech to that of Federer’s when Nadal won his first AO (after long Verdasco semi).

Medvedev’s first words give a nice insight into first meeting with Djoko, when Medvedev was starting out. Very kind words there after his loss in the final.

Federer’s reaction was to produce uncontrollable sobs of trauma, and after him previously winning many, many grandslams.

What contrast.218A

Reply posted by Andymurray1, today at 14:58Andymurray1

14:58to MK"Contrast Medvedev’s speech to that of Federer’s when Nadal won his first AO (after long Verdasco semi). Medvedev’s first words give a nice insight into first meeting with Djoko, when Medvedev was starting out. Very kind words there after his loss in the final.Federer’s reaction was to produce uncontrollable sobs of trauma, and after him previously winning many, many grandslams.What contrast."Andymurray1 replied: Ahh you remember when fed tearfully said ‘this is killing me man’s after Nadal beat him for about 4th straight meet. I sometimes thought I was only person who saw that, because of the Murray haters who berated Murray when he cried at Wimbledo 2012 loss as tho fed had never crumbled emotionally.21More commentsBack to topunknown
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