- Djokovic clinches a 92nd career singles title after defeating Korda.
- Petr Korda was the unseeded American opponen.
- Djokovic thus extended his unbeaten streak in Australia to 34 matches.
Novak Djokovic won the Adelaide International, cementing his position as a strong favorite to win the Australian Open by defeating Sebastian Korda on match point.
The son of former world number two Petr Korda was the unseeded American opponent, and it took the 21-time Grand Slam champion more than three hours to establish his dominance over him. The scores were 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (7/3), and 6-4. Djokovic thus extended his unbeaten streak in Australia to 34 matches.
🇷🇸 @DjokerNole rules again Down Under 🏆
Proud owner of 92 @atptour singles titles and a 34-match winning streak in Australia.
Up next, the pursuit of a 10th #AusOpen crown. pic.twitter.com/9SayTk81t7
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 8, 2023
With the injured Carlos Alcaraz not present at Melbourne Park, the 92-time career champion will head to the Australian Open in about a week with momentum in his quest to win the Grand Slam for a tenth time.
Djokovic, who won the 2007 Adelaide Open in his early career, described the pre-Open tune-up week as “very special for me” and expressed his delight at the overwhelming support of the crowd.
“This past week was incredible. Being here is undoubtedly a gift “The fifth-ranked Serbian in the world, who missed the Australian Open in 2017 after being deported due to his immunisation status, made this statement.
“I gave it everything I had this day and all week to be able to get my hands on this trophy.
“The support I’ve received in the last 10 days was something I don’t think I’ve experienced too many times in my life,” he added, referring to the packed pro-Djokovic crowds at every match.
“It felt like I was playing at home.”
Djokovic saved Korda’s match point while serving at 5-6, 30/40 in the second set, making the save with an overhead before the set went into another tiebreaker, which the Serb won.
[embedpost slug=”adelaide-international-1-novak-djokovic-beats-denis-shapovalov-to-reach-semi-final/”]
