Djokovic beats Thiem in five sets to win eighth Australian Open
- 02 Feb 2020
For the eighth time, Novak Djokovic has won the Australian Open championship by beating the Dominic Thiem in five sets in the final. This also makes it his 17th Grand Slam title.
With 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win, Djokovic will be taking Rafael Nadal position as the No.1.
Djokovic grew 16-0 momentum in the semifinals and finals at Melbourne Park. Making him the first man in the history of tennis to win a tournament more than six times.
Alongside his Australian Open haul, Djokovic has five titles from Wimbledon, three from the U.S Open and one from the French Open.
Only Roger Federer, with 20, and Nadal, with 19, have won more men's Grand Slam singles trophies.
The final happens to be Thiem’s third major final and unfortunately he has not won any.
In seven unbeaten finals, the Serb has met only three men, defeating Rafael Nadal (2012, 2019) twice, Andrew Murray four times (2011, 2013, 2015-16) and a lone victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008, his maiden Grand Slam title.
In fifth seed Thiem, Djokovic meets an opponent he has never faced at Melbourne Park and suffered recent defeats to - on hardcourt at the season-ending ATP Tour Finals and on clay during the French Open semi-finals. Djokovic is the first to admit that the slick 26-year-old has successfully refined his game over the past 12 months to compete on all surfaces. And he acknowledges it is just a matter of time before Thiem wins a Slam.
“I don’t think he’s really anymore ‘next generation’. He’s been around for many years. Now already he’s an established top-five, top-10 player,” said Djokovic.
“It’s just a matter of one match here and there that can potentially give him a Grand Slam title, that he can actually get in the mix of top three in the world,” he added.
Compared to Nadal and Murray, who have racked up years of beatdowns by Djokovic at the hardcourt Grand Slams, Thiem comes into the match relatively free of scar tissue.
Thiem who was once repudiated as a threat on clay has torpedoed those that didn’t believe in his hardcourt skills by a four-set defeat of Nadal in the quarter-finals.
The 26-year-old Austrian showcased extraordinary power and endurance during the match. He exhibited great skills of managing pressure and courage of converting chances when they came.
Runner-up to Nadal at the last two French Opens, Thiem may lack the major trophies and aura of Djokovic’s ‘Big Three’ rivals Nadal and Federer.
But what he does have is a ferocious one-handed backhand and the blue collar grit of three-times Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, one of the very few men capable of giving 16-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic sleepless nights.
Thiem, who has beaten four seeds to make the grade, including Rafael Nadal in the last eight, is no stranger to Grand Slam finals, making the last two at Roland Garros. But this is his best effort outside of the French Open.
He lauded Djokovic as the “king of Australia” and insisted his recent succusses against him counted for little at the Serb’s favourite tournament.
“It’s true, I won I think more of the last encounters than he did. But I think it doesn’t count so much. It’s absolutely his comfort zone here,” he said.
“He always plays his best tennis in Australia since many, many years. So I’m expecting that as well in the finals. All I can do is my best again, play great tennis again, and of course take a look at the last matches we had... try to repeat the good stuff that I did there.”
Wawrinka, who toppled Djokovic on the way to his 2014 Australian Open triumph and twice more in the French and U.S. Open finals, put his backhand to devastating use against the Serb.
The backhand down the line may be the most exhilarating shot in tennis but few players have the courage or control to use it on clutch points.
Thiem let it rip against Nadal and young gun Alex Zverev in the semi-finals. He may need to be similarly fearless to beat the Serb, whose peerless court speed and defence tend to repel the shots that would be winners against other players.
