Djokovic knocked brother off bench, was champion in Adelaide and tied Nadal in ATP titles

The happy ending of the story will say that the Serbian Novak Djokovic he became champion in Adelaide after a three-hour marathon comeback against the American Sebastian Korda with partials of 6-7 (8), 7-6 (3) and 6-4, which allowed him to equal the Spaniard Rafael Nadal ranked fourth in the list of tennis players with the most ATP titles (92). But to get there the Serbian had to fight and not only on the pitch, saving a match point against: after losing the first set, he kicked his brother Marko and his Italian agent Edoardo Artaldi off the bench.

The scene, with Dantesque tones, occurred immediately after Korda had gone out with a large tie break in the first set 10-8. Djokovic walked over to his chair, pointed to the box where his team was and sent them off the field with his right hand.

At first it was not clear who his anger was aimed at, because immediately the world number 5 himself took the trouble to make it clear by shouting the names of Marko and Edoardo, who immediately left their chairs and walked away.

In the second set, one and the other kept their serves with more or less solvency and this gave Korda his first chance to lift the trophy as he returned with 4-5 on the board. There was little he could do there, but he did it when at 5-6 he had a match point. Djokovic dodged it and already in the tie break he didn’t forgive, getting to have five set balls and sealing it with the third of them.

Everything would then be decided in the third and final set, which started like the previous one with the rivals making good serves, including the one that Korda won by drawing four, despite being down 0-30 from the start.

The American survived there, but not when Djokovic came back to take the title for the first time (4-5). Despite being down 40-30, the Serbian forced the ‘two’, gave continuity with an advantage and closed it by taking advantage of his first point in the championship. All this in more than three hours..

In this way, Djokovic -35 years old- equaled Rafael Nadal in number of titles with 92, sum 34 consecutive games won on Australian soil -where he returned this week after being deported in 2021- and a streak of 23 wins in his last 24 games continues to shine. The historical table of ATP titles is led by Jimmy Connor, with 109; followed by Roger Federer (103) and ivan lendl (94).

All this to kick off the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, where he will be looking for his tenth title, taking advantage of the absence of number 1, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz.

“It’s been a wonderful week. Being here now is a gift, definitely”said the Serbian, who had already settled in Adelaide in 2007 at the start of his career, and who missed the Australian Open last year, after being expelled for his refusal to get vaccinated against covid.

“I gave everything today and also throughout the week to be able to get my hands on this trophy. The support I’ve received over the past ten days has been something I don’t think I’ve experienced many times in my life,” added Djokovic , who has a large following in Australia, a country that also has a large Serbian community.

“It definitely felt like I was playing at home,” he explained.

The 22-year-old Korda played in the fifth final of his career and said the experience of the defeat in Adelaide will serve him well for the rest of the season. He also received praise from Djokovic, who showed no signs of problems with his left leg, which bothered him during Saturday’s win against Russian Daniil Medvedev.

“Great effort today, Seb. I’d say you were probably closer to winning than me. The game was decided by a shot or two, a point or two. You were unlucky today, but the future looks bright for you.” .