Djokovic and Tsitsipas will liven up a historic final, with the number 1 up for grabs

At Melbourne Park there will be a physical and a tacit trophy for the champion. When the match between Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas concludes on Sunday, which will start at 5.30 in Argentina and will be broadcast by ESPN and Star+, the winner will leave Australia as champion and also number 1 in the world. While both ranking and Grand Slam victory will be new for the Greek, the Serbian will reclaim the privileged position he once had for 373 weeks -a record- and will equal Rafael Nadal as the best winner of major tournaments with 22, ten of them on ocean land.

With Rafa eliminated in the first round, Tsitsipas (ATP 4th) avoided his biggest obstacle on his way to the final. It also didn’t clash with a top 10 list: beat Quentin Halys, Rinky Hijikata, Tallon Griekspoor, Jannik Sinner (the only one who took him to five sets), Jiri Lehecka and Karen Khachanov (whom he beat 7-6, 6-4, 6-7 this Friday , 6-3) before meeting again the executioner of that only Grand Slam final he played. “I do not remember it”Said the 24-year-old tennis player about that definition in Paris.

On his side of the draw, Djokovic lost a set to his least anticipated rival, Frenchman Enzo Couacaud (191st in the world), and crushed his more complex ranking rival, in the quarterfinals. Andrei Rublev (6th), beating him 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4. In his last duel to fight for the title, against Tommy Paul (35th) with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-2, he had to overcome a more complex situation outside than inside the Rod Laver Arena court: the father’s accusation of supporting the Russians in the military attack on Ukrainewhich caused the absence of Srdjan Djokovic in the area.

“Obviously it wasn’t good for me not to have him in the pits during the semi-final. I hope I can have him in the final because he was misunderstood. There were a lot of Serbian flags and he thought about taking a photo with a Serbian, that’s all. My father, all my family and i went through several wars during the 90’s. We are against war, we will never support any kind of violence or war. We know how devastating it can be for a family or for the people of a country.“, highlighted those who were expelled from Australia last year for not being vaccinated against the coronavirus. It is not yet, but the requirements on the island have changed and he is ready to take advantage of it.

Djokovic, from being deported and “hated by everyone” to number 1?

On Sunday evening, January 15, 2022, accompanied by two black-uniformed government officials and having lost his latest legal battle to avoid deportation, Freight he left the hotel where he had been “Prisoner” in Australia for not having been vaccinated against covid-19 waiting to be able to play the Grand Slam.

“What happened 12 months ago was not easy for me, neither for my team nor for my family. It is obviously disappointing to leave the country like that. These are events that cannot be forgotten. It’s one of those things that stays with you for the rest of your life.. It was something I had never experienced before and hope to never do again. But in the end it’s a valuable life experience for me,” she reflected in the preview of her debut at the ATP 250 in Adelaide, one of the preparation tournaments for this Australian Open.

After that 2022 started as a deportee – and without being able to try to revalidate his title – and followed with his exclusion from the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells, Miami, Montreal and Cincinnati and the US Open (he had been a finalist the previous year), since the United States and Canada also did not allow him to enter due to not having been vaccinated, he was able to return to Australia with the aim of “getting to the top in Melbourne” in this 2023 .

Although with each passing year the challenge to win major titles is greater, because time takes its toll –He’s 35 and 20 on the pro circuit– and there are increasingly younger and more talented rivals like the Spaniards Carlos Alcaraz, who will be deposed from the league throne through injury, Djokovic is still confident in his abilities. And he proves it too in the first Grand Slam of the season, where he dropped just one set in six games.

Also, that winning streak allows him to not lose in Melbourne since 2018 and rack up 27 wins in a row, surpassing the record he has so far shared with American Andre Agassi. “Winning the Grand Slam and being number one in the world, those are probably the highest things you can reach as a professional tennis player,” said Djokovic, who is 10-2 against Tsitsipas and has won his last nine meetings.

Tennis, however, has been partly overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Srdjan Djokovic. Those photos together with fans with pro-Russian flags and symbols – explicitly forbidden at the Australian Open – led the Ukrainian ambassador to the country to ask the organizers to veto the entry of Freightwho, a few hours before the match, announced that he would not go to the venue “so as not to disturb”.

By committing double faults and shots that remained on the net or long shots, especially a backhand, the Serbian allowed himself to level it at 5-1, before honing his shots and taking the first set against Paul in the middle of the match. boo from the stands. Even without shining like in the previous rounds, Djokovic immediately strove to win in straight sets against a hitherto inexperienced opponent in the final rounds of a Grand Slam.

What will happen to him on Sunday will be different, when he faces again the one who put him in difficulty in the Roland Garros 2021 final.”It was the first time I’d come from 2-0 in a Grand Slam final.It was also his first final. He’s one of the coolest guys on the circuit, with his mane. Let the best player win,” she said.

Tsitsipas’ revenge: “I couldn’t be more prepared”

Stefanos Tsitsipas was about to turn eight when Novak Djokovic won his first title in his first ATP final. Almost seventeen years later, the Greek has a second chance to beat the Serbian in a Grand Slam definition, with an extra prize: to be the new number 1 in the world.

Still undefeated this yearthe third seed of the tournament broke through the roof in Melbourne where he had lost three semifinals and will face the duel wanting revenge for what happened at Roland Garros 2021, where Nole recovered two sets. “I couldn’t be more prepared for this moment”, underlined.

“I’m playing great tennis, I’m having fun. I don’t see so many push-ups or negativity, even if things don’t work out. I’m very optimistic, it’s something I was missing in my game,” celebrated the winner nine titles from that of 2018 in Stockholm and reached its best ranking (3rd) in 2021.

If he manages to lift his first major trophy – so far his greatest successes are the two Montecarlo Masters 1000 and the 2019 ATP Finals, the year in which he also defeated Djokovic, Nadal and Federer -, Tsitsipas would be able to be number 1 in the ATP for the first time. “I like that number. It concerns you. It’s unique. it’s 1 -valued-. These are the moments I’ve worked hard for.”

Whether it’s Tsitsipas or Djokovic, the crown could be short-lived in his hands because Carlos Alcaraz, who at 19 reached the top after winning the US Open on September 11, could recover it at the ATP in Buenos Aires. The Spaniard will appear this Monday in second place in the ATP rankings with 6,730 points -in Melbourne he defended 90 which he obviously lost-, behind the 7,070 that the Serbian will have in case of victory or the 6,995 that the Greek will have in case of victory . Whoever loses the final will be third, with 6,270 or 6,195 respectively.