As soon as he won the Australian Open, the tennis player climbed into the stands, burst into tears and fell to the ground without moving for several minutes. Indeed, he had to receive help to get out of the box and get back on the track.
Game, set and match for Novak Djokovic. The Serb won his tenth Australian Open title and became world number one again.
But he hasn’t done it in any tournament or another Grand Slam. He achieved it in the same country that expelled him last year and that marked the start of a year full of contrasts for the athlete who is undoubtedly one of the greatest in history. .
Consequently, he burst into tears. For the same reason, he barely greeted his service rival, Stefanos Tsitsipas (3rd ATP) slowly advanced towards one of the stands. Where his loved ones were, those who were with him in the worst times and who never lost their faith.
Nole came forward with a steady gaze and with a bound he was standing on the railing to shout to the world that he was becoming a legend. And like a footballer who wins a cup with a last-minute goal, the Belgrade native raised his hands, expressed his passion and then hugged his family.
“When I went to box, I fell in love with hugging my mom and brother because until then I guess I had no right to be distracted by anything off track or that would disrupt my treatment of the injury . It took a lot of mental energy,” he said at the press conference after his victory.
Then he added that “if I go back a few weeks, I think I was not ready to win. It was a matter of survival. From the round of 16, my leg didn’t bother me as much, I moved much better.
With partials of 6-3, 7-6 and 7-6, Djokovic equaled Rafael Nadal with 22 Grand Slam titles and surpassed him with 93 tournaments won at ATP level. Maybe for the same Spanish newspapers highlighted another part of their celebration. The one where the head, heart and crotch were hit, because they compared it to the one Carlos Alcaraz did in the final he beat in Madrid.
But that’s already part of another story, because Nole wanted to justify himself and he expressed it that way. “I was looking forward to going back to Australia, I wanted to come back and play. I ended last season in the best possible way and had a great pre-season. Considering what happened last year, I was a little more nervous; I didn’t know how it was going to be or how people were going to receive me, but in general it was a very positive experience,” he concluded.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
