Australian Open—Melbourne, Australia
No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic claimed his eighth Australian Open title on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, defeating No. 5 seed Dominic Thiem 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Needing nearly four hours to claim his title, Djokovic overcame the loss of the second and third sets with brilliant baseline play and formidable serving. Striking nine aces and winning 76 percent of his first serve points, Djokovic broke serve and five occasions and also hit 46 winners. Improving to 7-4 against Thiem in lifetime meetings, Djokovic had lost four out of the last five meetings against the Austrian.
Returning to world No. 1 as a result of his victory, Djokovic now stands with 17 Grand Slam titles. He trails Rafael Nadal by two titles (19) and current overall leader Roger Federer by three titles (20).
Thiem, who continues to show that he is equally as impressive on hard-courts as he is on clay, dismissed top seed Nadal in the quarterfinals, No. 7 seed Alexander Zverev in the semifinals and No. 10 seed Gael Monfils in the fourth-round.
The 26-year-old will move up to No. 4 in the world (a career high) on Monday.
