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With precision tennis, backhand winners, and superior rally craft, Novak Djokovic dominates old rival Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final

Jan 27, 2019, 16:20 IST

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Photo by James D. Morgan/Getty Images

  • Novak Djokovic just dominated Rafael Nadal in the men's singles Australian Open final.
  • Djokovic won in straight-sets and lifts a record seventh Australian Open title.
  • The Serbian remains the man to beat, and is now undefeated in three successive Grand Slam tournaments.

Novak Djokovic just made history.

The Serbian tennis player, the world's number one ranked athlete in his sport, romped to a dominant victory over Rafael Nadal at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena in the Australian Open men's singles final on Sunday. It is Djokovic's seventh Australian Open title, a record… the most any man in history has ever won that trophy, and he won it in style.

Nadal was supposed to provide stiff opposition. The Spaniard, as physically-impressive as he has ever been, reached the tournament final without dropping a single set. The warrior from Manacor, Mallorca, even developed a reputation as the "Next-Gen" killer after derailing the hype previously built by three promising talents. He demolished the 19-year-old Alex de Minaur in the Round of 32, thrashed Frances Tiafoe, 21, in the quarter-final, and trounced the 20-year-old Tsitsipas in the semi.

Read more: Rafael Nadal just thrashed Frances Tiafoe and couldn't help but marvel at the American's ripped body in his post-match interview

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But against Djokovic, Nadal was against a different beast entirely. And this was a beast who refused to be tamed, let alone slain.

Djokovic gave Nadal a taste of what was in store from the off, as he denied Nadal a game for 16 minutes, establishing an early 3-1 lead. Much had been made of how Nadal had been improving his serve, but it was Djokovic who won points from powerful aces launched at 195 kmh (121 mph) that were beyond the reach of the 32-year-old. Djokovic beat Nadal with precision tennis, superior rally craft, and game-winning backhands - winning the first set 6-3.

Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Read more: Novak Djokovic says his son was more interested in Spider-Man than in his Australian Open semifinal

That was virtually repeated in the second set, as Djokovic served a further four aces, won two break points, and romped to a 6-2 win to leave him just one set away from a magnificent seventh Australian Open championship.

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And though Nadal won the first game in the third on his own serve, Djokovic cranked out a game to love in the second, before breaking Nadal in the third game. This gave him that all important platform to dominate further, making a straight-sets win seem like a foregone conclusion.

Of course, it was all too much for Nadal to come back from as Djokovic won the final set 6-3. Yes, Nadal had played impeccable tennis throughout the tournament, and looked like he had returned back to his very best, but that was not enough to win a single set from Djokovic who showed, once again, why he, in this era, is the man to beat, undefeated now in three successive Grand Slam tournaments.

At the French Open later in the season, Nadal's speciality, Djokovic will have a rare opportunity to make it a fourth.

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