World number two and Serbian tennis maestro Novak Djokovic battled back from two sets down to beat Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the summit showdown of the Australian Open on Sunday. With the win, Djokovic has successfully also defended his title and clinched a record-extending eighth Grand Slam crown at Melbourne Park.
Here are the highlights:
# Djokovic beats Thiem to lift eighth Australian Open title!
# Thiem finally grabbed a point after hitting the net with a forehand shot and ending a spellbinding 28-shot rally.
# Djokovic holds on to his serve to go 4-2 up in the decider against his Austrian opponent. He is now just two games away from 17th Grand Slam title.
# Thiem bounced back, won the must-win game to make it 3-2 in the deciding set against Djokovic.
# The world number two has staged a strong come back after coming back from his injury break. Djokovic is now holding a 3-1 lead in the deciding set and looking all set to clinch his 8th Australian Open title.
# Djokovic has clinched the fourth set by 6-3 to force the final match of the Australian Open into a decider.
# The score is currently levelled at 3-3 in the third set.
# After returning from his injury break, Djokovic held his serve to edge past Thiem and take 1-0 early lead in the third set before the Austrian bounce back to level the score.
# World No.5 Thiem is now just one set away from his maiden Grand Slam title.
# Thiem clinches third set 6-2 against Djokovic.
# Thiem has complety dominated the third set and is not allowing his Serbian opponent to seal even a single game. The Austrian has taken a 5-1 lead in the third set and is now just a game away from clinching the set.
# In the third set, Thiem made the breakthrough first by breaking Djokovic's serve to take a 1-0 lead before he doubled the scoreline with a forehand winner.
# Dominic Thiem takes the second set by 6-4 against Djokovic.
# Thiem made a few unforced errors before Djokovic broke to make it 4-4. Subsequently, Thiem broke back to take 5-4 lead.
# Djokovic went for winners in order to take back the lead in the ongoing set but Thiem held his nerve to take the score to 4-2 against the Serbian.
# The Serbian tennis maestro continued his momentum in the second set as well to take an early 1-0 lead before Thiem broke Djokovic set early to level the score. Subsequently, Djokovic committed a double fault to give Thiem a 2-1 lead in the second set.
# Djokovic takes the opening set 6-4 after Thiem made an unforced error to squander his deuce advantage and hand the Serbian the set.
# Djokovic has squandered his 4-1 advantage to make it 4-4 against Thiem. The Austrian held his serve to level the score in the opening set.
# After almost letting Djokovic break his serve for the second time in the match, Thiem staged a strong comeback by breaking the Serbian's serve to make it 3-4 in the opening set.
# Defending champion Djokovic continues to dominate the proceedings in the summit showdown of the men's singles event and he is not giving any chance to Thiem to earn points. The world number two needs to win two more games to clinch the opening set. Djokovic 4-1 against Thiem
# Djokovic made the breakthrough first with his backhand winners to take a 3-0 lead in the first set before Thiem somehow managed to grab his first point of the match to make it 3-1.
It's the perfect start for @DjokerNole!
The seven-time champion breaks Dominic Thiem to lead 2-0 in the opening set.#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/0wpHN87KfX
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 2, 2020
# The two players are currently warming up on the court ahead of the start of the summit showdown.
# Serbian fans are out in full force to support world number two Novak Djokovic.
Serbian fans are out in full force tonight!#AO2020 | #AusOpen | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/wWdeOW4r3o
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 2, 2020
# Novak Djokovic has never lost after making it to the final of the Australian Open.
Never lost a Melbourne final #AO2020 | #AusOpen | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/tSKoSCLfZV
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 2, 2020
On Thursday, 32-year-old Djokovic once again defeated rival Roger Federer 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-3 in straight sets to book his place in the final of the Australian Open and remain on course for a record-extending eighth title at the tournament.
Thiem, on the other hand, overcame Alexander Zverev of Germany in a four-set thriller 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(4) in another semi-final clash of the men's singles event to reach his first Australian Open final on Friday.
Heading into the summit showdown, Djokovic is leading the head-to-head ATP rivalry with Thiem by a 6-4 margin.
As the men`s Grand Slams dominated by the `Big Three` of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for years, Thiem will be keen to become the first player born in the 1990s to clinch a major title.
Djokovic, on the other hand, will look to join Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as the third man in history to seal a Grand Slam at least eight times.
