By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, January 27, 2019
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic crushed rival Rafael Nadal, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to capture his record seventh AO title and 15th Grand Slam crown.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Midway through the opening set, Rafael Nadal realized he was in the wrong place at the wrong time in this Australian Open final.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic sent a deep drive that left Nadal swinging at air completely whiffing on his ferocious forehand.
Watch: Osaka Wins AO Title, Rises To No. 1
If the world No. 2 looked out of sorts there was good reason: facing a dominant Djokovic is disorientating.
In a major master class, a dazzling Djokovic destroyed his archrival, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, roaring to a record seventh Australian Open championship in a profound performance to claim his 15th career Grand Slam crown.
It is the third straight Grand Slam title for Djokovic, who surpasses his childhood hero Pete Sampras for third place on the all-time list behind only 20-time Grand Slam king Roger Federer and 17-time major champion Nadal.
Playing with relaxed intensity, Djokovic made history as also the first man to stamp three streaks of three or more consecutive Grand Slam titles. Djokovic won three straight majors in 2011-12 (2011 Wimbledon-2012 Australian Open) and became the first man to hold all four Grand Slams simultaneously, since Rod Laver in 1969, when he won the 2016 Roland Garros to complete the Nole Slam.
Now, if Djokovic can dethrone 11-time Roland Garros champion Nadal in Paris, he'd complete a second Nole Slam and join the legendary Laver as the second man to hold all four majors simultaneously two different times.
A year ago, Djokovic followed his fourth-round Melbourne exit to Hyeon Chung undergoing elbow surgery then suffering a crisis confidence.
A year later, the 31-year-old Serbian stormed to his first AO title since 2016 with his most dominant victory over Nadal in a major final a full 11 years after winning his first major in Melbourne.
"I've been through a surgery and quite major injury myself," Djokovic said "I had the surgery exactly 12 months ago. To be standing here in front of you today and managing to win this title and three of the four Slams is truly amazing. I'm speechless."
Episode 53 of the most prolific rivalry in ATP history was strictly one-way traffic.
Though the world's top two shared the court for the first time since their epic Wimbledon semifinal, they stand worlds apart on hard court.
Djokovic scored his eighth straight hard-court victory over the king of clay—winning 17 consecutive sets in those matches—and has not lost to Nadal on hard court since the 2013 US Open final.
A classy Nadal credited his conqueror and vowed to fight back.
"It was an amazing level of tennis tonight and during the whole two weeks," Nadal said to Djokovic. "Well done for everything.
"Talking for myself, it has been a very emotional two weeks. Even if tonight wasn't my best day, of course, I played (an opponent) who was much better than me tonight...
"I only can say one thing: I'm going to keep fighting hard, I'm going to keep working hard to be a better player."
The pair have combined to collect 25 of the last 36 Grand Slam titles, but on this day Djokovic was untouchable.
The rematch was a mismatch.
Seven years ago, Djokovic out-dueled Nadal in a five hour, 53-minute marathon in the 2012 AO final that was the longest Grand Slam final in history.
Today, an oppressive Djokovic outclassed Nadal from the first game defeating his rival for the ninth time in their last 11 meetings to take a 28-25 lead in their head-to-head series that is the most prolific rivalry in ATP history.
Prolonged elevation gave way to pure elation in a near-perfect performance.
The top seed was simply untouchable. Djokovic did not drop serve and reduced the 17-time Grand Slam champion to role of retriever ripping 34 winners against just nine unforced errors in a final completely devoid of drama.
On the 50th anniversary of Rod Laver's second Grand Slam, Djokovic claimed his third consecutive major crown and now eyes Nadal's stomping grounds at Roland Garros to complete another Nole Slam.
In a clash of iconic champions, Djokovic took his game to places Nadal simply could not go.
Djokovic delivered one of the most superb performances of his career and did the unthinkable: he basically beat he desire out of the fiercest fighter the game has ever seen.
A sharp Djokovic streaked through 12 of the first 13 points dissecting the Roland Garros champion with deep drives.
A nervous Nadal, who had stamped 66 straight holds before surrendering serve in his opening service game, finally got on the board 15 minutes into the match.
Attacking the Spaniard's vaunted forehand, Djokovic was belting backhands crosscourt with vigor.
Things got so tough for Nadal, he completely whiffed on a forehand as Djokovic raced through his fourth straight love hold.
The top seed won 20 of 21 points played on his serve rolling through the 35-minute opening set with ease.
The bad news for Nadal was he made no inroads into the Serbian's serve.
The worse news was Djokovic was 59-4 in finals when winning the first set and just won his 15th straight set on hard court vs. his rival.
Trying to gain traction in the second set, Nadal couldn't gain the initiative in the face of Djokovic's deep twisting drives. In a rapid-fire net exchange, the second seed floated a lob long as Djokovic broke for 3-2.
Sixty-five minutes into the match, Nadal dashed into the doubles alley splashing a running forehand strike down the line for deuce and spiking a supportive roar from fans.
Djokovic muted the uprising navigating his first deuce hold to confirm the break for 4-2.
Playing with a relaxed intensity, Djokovic disarmed his rival with down the line drives. A flat forehand down the line gave Djokovic two break points.
Stepping inside the baseline, the Serbian scalded a clean backhand down the line for his second straight break and a 5-2 second-set lead.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion cracked three straight aces sealing a two-set lead in 76 minutes.
This was such a thorough thrashing through two sets a commanding Djokovic won 27 of 31 first-serve points and committed just four unforced errors compared to 20 for Ndal.
Spreading the court beautifully, Djokovic stretched his rival then added touch to torment pulling the string beautifully on a drop shot winner to break for a 2-1 third-set lead.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Grunting with authority before his ball even landed, Djokovic banged a backhand winner to back up the break leaving a flat-footed Nadal staring vacantly at the spot.
Staring down a break point for the first time all night, Djokovic denied it hammering a backhand winner to hold for 4-2.
From the opening game, Djokovic's daggers down the line shredded the second-seeded Spaniard and ultimatley helped him seal one of his most dominant major finals.
Ripping a forehand down the line brought Djokovic double championship point.
On his second championship point, Nadal sailed a backhand.
Djokovic found seventh heaven down under with a performance for the ages then dropped to his knees and screamed in joy.
The two hour, four minute men's final was shorter than Naomi Osaka's two hour, 27-minute win over Petra Kvitova in the women's final both in time and games played.
Osaka's 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4, triumph spanned 35 games, while Djokovic needed just 26 games to dismiss Nadal.