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The emotions overflowed from Novak Djokovic. Never before has he placed on display for the sporting world to witness how affected he was with winning the Australian Open. Sure, players cry after wins and losses but Djokovic took sobbing to another level. He was wailing and bawling in the embrace and arms of his family and team when victory was sealed.
Novak won the Australian Open for a record extending tenth time and to do that he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas also for the tenth straight time. In two hours 56 minutes he clinched victory 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 and denied Stef from winning his first major title - he was playing in his second such final having lost to Djokovic at the French Open final in 2021 from two sets to love down.
This win has given Djokovic his 22nd major crown which equals Rafa Nadal's record for men, and it places them two behind Margaret Court's all-time record.
"Of course, I am motivated to win as many slams as possible," Djokovic said. "At this stage of my career, these trophies are the biggest motivational factor of why I still compete. That's the case without a doubt.
"I never really liked comparing myself to others, but of course it's a privilege to be part of the discussion as one of the greatest players of all time. If people see me this way, of course it's very flattering because I know that I give as much effort and energy into trying to win slams as anybody else.
"I still have lots of motivation. Let's see how far it takes me. I really don't want to stop here. I don't have intention to stop here. I feel great about my tennis. I know that when I'm feeling good physically, mentally present, I have a chance to win any slam against anybody.
"I like my chances going forward. But, again, nothing is given or nothing is for granted. Of course, awareness there's a lot of players that want this trophy or want the No. 1 position in the world."
On top of that Novak will return to the world No.1 ranking for the first time since 6th June, 2022. He will start his 374th week at the top of the tennis world.
Tsitsipas has a couple of chances. He has a set point at 5-4 in the second set but Djokovic saved that and pushed the set to a tiebreak. The Greek had his next opportunity at the start of the third set. He was able to break Djokovic's serve in the first game but that advantage did not last long. Djokovic struck back immediately and was never in trouble after that and he closed out his historic victory on his third championship point.
"Well, I did everything possible in order to get a good match against him," Tsitsipas said. "My team is working exceptionally to give me the best way that I can approach this, especially today.
"There is nothing that I didn't use in my advantage. There's nothing that I could have extracted more for today. I did everything possible.
"You know, Novak is a player that pushes you to your limits. I don't see this as a curse. I don't see this as something, like, annoying. This is very good for the sport, to have competitors like him, to have champions like him.
"He's very important for us that want to get to his point one day. Getting our asses kicked is for sure a very good lesson every single time. He has made me a much better player. He has made my levels of concentration higher and higher every single time I get to play him. You have to be really involved and you have to be dedicated to the game when you play against him.
"I find it a very important part of my career, to have a player like him that will help me grow better and do bigger things, speaking for my game.
The doubles championship was won by the Aussie scratch pairing of Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata, they defeated Jan Zeilinski and Huge Nys 6-4, 7-6.
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