It was a clash of tennis titans between Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and the rising Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas for the Australian Open title. It was a highly contrasting battle, too, as the former World No. 1 was going for his 10th hard-court title at Melbourne while the World No. 4 was eyeing his first Grand Slam title. The result, however, favored the more experienced Djokovic, winning his 22nd Grand Slam.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, however, won’t return empty-handed from Melbourne. On top of the $1,625,000 prize money, he also gained much experience while fighting for the season-opening Grand Slam.
Stefanos Tsitsipas learns a “very good lesson”
During the Australian Open finale, Tsitsipas had a slow start, as Djokovic claimed the 1st set with ease: 6-3. But the Greek tennis sensation didn’t let this upset him. Battling the nerves from the first set, Stefanos pushed the then 9-time Australian Open champion to a tiebreaker in the 2nd set, which ended in 6-7 in favor of Novak. Even after losing the first two sets, the Greek bravely played on, pushing the World No. 5 to yet another tiebreaker. The final set also went to the Serbian ace, earning him his 10th Australian Open.
During the post-match presser, Tsitsipas opened up about finishing as the runner-up at the season’s first Grand Slam. While praising Novak, he mentioned the Serb’s gameplay and said,
“Losing finals is not the best feeling in the world, for sure.[…]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.”
While setting his sights on the top spot, which Djokovic now owns, Tsitsipas said,
“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.”
I feel that the Greek tennis star is definitely on track to being at the top someday.
What do you think of the men’s final match at the 2023 Australian Open? Let us know your thoughts about Novak Djokovic’s and Stefano Tsitsipas’ gameplay in the comments!