Novak Djokovic wants to be bigger than Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic (5th) shouts loud and clear from the center of the sky blue court at Rod Laver Arena. Show the world anger, but also hunger. These seem to be the forces that move the Serbs. On the one hand, this enormous energy to break the opponent and, on the other, this constant insistence on being the best of all. Energies that, even if not everyone likes them, have it once again one step away from making history.

And it’s Australia again, the most important place in a career in which he celebrated more than 90 titles, with few greater joys than those he obtained in Melbourne. Now an unbreakable link (not for nothing He has won 27 consecutive matches at the Oceanic Open ), who could write his most dreamed-about episode tomorrow.

Djokovic does not play only one final. His reunion with the ceiling of tennis is played. If he wins his tenth Australian Open, he will break new records and Rafael Nadal (2nd) will no longer be able to see him from above. If he beats Stefanos Tsitsipas (4th), this Sunday (05:30 in Chile), will equal the Spaniard with 22 Grand Slam titles and surpass him with 93 tournaments won at ATP level . Incidentally, he will share with the Balearic Islands the label of being the only male player with 10 or more trophies from the same Big Four tournament on the calendar.

The change of command would come at a turning point in both of their careers. As Nadal crashed in the second round, injured his left leg and went back to thinking about retirement (“the glass is filling up”, he warned), Nole seems to have made a new comeback -back on the circuit. After a year in which he was unable to travel to Australia, which caused a scandal, and in which more than 10,000 points for the ranking went uncontested due to Covid-19 restrictions , 2023 has started in the best possible way.

Building on the momentum of the big close he enjoyed last year (he won two titles), the Serb remains undefeated in the current season. He won the ATP 250 trophy in Adelaide and now settles into the final of the tour’s best event after dropping just one set in the entire tournament. He eliminated giants of the stature of Dimitrov (28th), De Minaur (24th), Rublev (6th) and Tommy Paul (35th) . The American was his victim in the semi-finals, beaten 7-5, 6-1 and 6-2.

What happened in the 2022 US Open final will be replicated in defining the title in Australia. The winner will be the new world number one. That’s how Alcaraz got it when he beat Ruud in New York. And it will be done by Djokovic or Tsitsipas in Melbourne. If the Balkan accomplishes this, he will take another step in the search for the highest seat in history.

The Greek, for his part, is determined to deny him that option. He has already experienced the disappointment of losing a Grand Slam title to Nole and is not ready to repeat that feeling. He even says he is more prepared than this time in Paris, in the 2021 Roland Garros final, a game the Serb reached after knocking out Nadal in the semi-finals and in which the Hellenic had his first experience in a definition of a grand slam.

The result was an epic comeback for Djokovic, who lifted two sets against and managed to celebrate his second title on Parisian clay, a match for history, even if the winner forgot it a week ago, at a press conference. “Have you played in a Grand Slam final? he asked about Tsitsipas ahead of the quarter-finals. A random mistake for some. A mind game for others.

If Nole secures his twenty-second Grand Slam and his 93rd title as a professional, he will be at the pinnacle of tennis. Tied with Nadal in the majors and surpassing him in the number of total titles, Masters 1000 and ATP finals, the Serb would become the most complete active player in terms of consecrations.

He’s not the only gal. Him too only player in history to have won every Masters 1000 at least twice , shows his great ability to lead events regardless of the surface. He has eight titles on grass, including seven at Wimbledon. On clay he has 18, including his two Roland Garros and 11 Masters 1000. If the discussion revolves around hard surfaces, a distinction must be made between indoor tournaments and open stadiums. In this first subclass he has 15, among which his six ATP finals mainly stand out. It is outdoors that he has won the most: 51 championships.

Over there, Australia has a special value thanks to its nine celebrations. They can be ten. Logic validates aspiration. And a fact too: every time he played at least the semi-finals in Melbourne, he emerged champion. Tsitsipas is looking to break those statistics. And tear a page from the legend.