■ Djokovic’s ‘Australian Open 10 wins’ feat… French Open in May, Jeong Jo-Jun beat Chichipas
… Victory over normal
vaccine expulsion, injury, and criticism in 2 years
Recaptured world number 1 in 7 months
Nadal and French Open record 2 wins 8 losses
All-time record inferior, but rising mood
Most wins in majors when winning Novak Djokovic (36, 1st place ) Serbia) challenges the wall of Rafael Nadal (37, Spain). Djokovic, who, along with Nadal, tied for first place (22 times) in men’s singles at major tennis tournaments, is aiming for first place alone at the French Open, the second major tournament of the season, which is Nadal’s main stage.
Djokovic defeated Stephanos Tsitsipas (Greece) 3-0 (6) in the men’s singles final of the Australian Open (total prize money: 76.5 million Australian dollars, about 67.2 billion won), the first major tennis tournament of the season held in Melbourne, Australia on the night of the 29th (Korean time). -3, 7-6, 7-6). Djokovic rose to No. 1 in the world rankings announced on the 30th for the first time in seven months.
Djokovic won the Australian Open for the 10th time in his personal career by recapturing the top two years after 2021. Djokovic is the third player to have won more than 10 singles titles in a single major tournament, following Margaret Court (retired, Australia)’s 11th Australian Open women’s singles and Nadal’s 14th French Open men’s singles.
At the French Open, which opens in May, Djokovic will challenge for the single top spot in the history of major tournaments. However, the French Open, which is held on clay court, is the main stage for Nadal, the ‘soil god’. Clay courts have high bounce and slow speed due to the soft surface. Therefore, strong serves and smashes have less power and longer rallies, and as a result, Nadal, who has strong endurance, has shown his strength. Djokovic is slightly ahead of Nadal with 30-29 in all-time records, but is inferior with 2-8 in the French Open and 8-20 in the clay court. Djokovic only won the French Open twice, but Nadal won 14 times, the most ever. However, Djokovic is showing unremarkable performance without major injuries, but Nadal is suffering from various injuries such as chronic foot pain. Nadal reached the top at last year’s French Open, but could not show off his performance due to injury until Wimbledon, US Open, and this year’s Australian Open. 스포츠토토
Djokovic stands out for his particularly strong mental armament. Djokovic’s 4th consecutive Australian Open defeat was canceled due to expulsion following refusal to enter the country due to non-vaccination of the Corona 19 vaccine last year. However, Djokovic participated in the Australian Open this year with the Australian government easing restrictions on entry, avenging last year’s disappointment and continuing an undefeated streak (28 wins) for five consecutive years. Djokovic also overcame a hamstring (muscle behind the thigh) injury that occurred early in the tournament. According to the BBC, Djokovic’s coach Goran Abinišević said, “97% of other players would have withdrawn due to injury.”
And Djokovic was not swayed by his father Srdan’s pro-Russian controversy. Djokovic was criticized after Srdan took a picture with a man holding a Russian flag emblazoned with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s face. From the semi-finals, Srdan did not sit in the stands and watched the game from the outside, easing the burden on Djokovic. The British media Guardian said, “Djokovic has overcome all competitions with his own mental armament.”
Experts predict that Djokovic will become the final winner over Nadal and Roger Federer (42, Switzerland) in the men’s tennis ‘Goat’ competition. Federer retired last year, and Nadal is suffering from chronic injuries, but Djokovic is still showing steady skills. Djokovic said, “It was sad that my father wasn’t in the stands, but in the end we had a happy ending.”