Australian Open: "Biggest Victory" - Highly emotional Novak Djokovic bursts into tears
Novak Djokovic gave free rein to his emotions after winning the title in Melbourne and spoke of his "greatest victory".
by SID/red.
last edit: Jan 29, 2023, 04:38 pm
Novak Djokovic climbed into his box cheering wildly and then collapsed, completely overwhelmed. For almost a minute the Serbian hand lay on the ground and cried uncontrollably. Concerned, his mother and team leaned over the tennis star, kissing and stroking Djokovic as he slowly recovered.
The Serbian folk hero has stormed back onto the Australian Open throne with a masterful performance a year after his humiliating expulsion. After two weeks of turbulence, the 35-year-old triumphantly defeated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was eleven years his junior, 6: 3, 7: 6 (4), 7: 6 (5) in the final of the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne.
emotional breakdown
"This tournament was one of the biggest challenges of my life considering the circumstances," said Djokovic after lifting the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at 11:05 p.m. local time with a 22 on his jacket: "It's my probably greatest victory. I broke down emotionally while hugging my mother and brother."
Djokovic gave himself great satisfaction and, with his 22nd major triumph, caught up with Rafael Nadal, who was the sole record champion so far. In Melbourne he achieved his tenth triumph in the tenth final and jumped back to the top of the world rankings - after that a huge burden fell off.
Tsitsipas "crowns" Djokovic to GOAT
"That's when you realize what's going on in a player like that," said his ex-coach Boris Becker at Eurosport: "How much pressure, what a burden, the expectations of the public. He showed it to everyone again."
This was also recognized by the severely disappointed Tsitsipas, who had already missed Greece's first Grand Slam victory in the final of the French Open in 2021. "He's the greatest person who has ever held a tennis racket in his hand, for sure," said the 24-year-old.
Motivation: More Slam victories
Most recently, his father Srdjan was "abused" by pro-Russian people for pictures, as Djokovic put it. Djokovic Senior could have returned to the box for the grand finale, but the seat next to his wife Dijana Djokovic remained empty after a joint decision. "It hurts me and him, but of course we saw each other after the match," said Novak Djokovic.
And he later announced that it shouldn't be his last important title: "Of course I'm motivated to win as many slams as possible. That's the biggest motivation."
The men's tableau from Melbourne.
laver arena