The second set found Tsitsipas taking the initiative. The Greek element became hugely engaged every time their man began expressing his thrilling, all-court game. The fans were certainly up for this cross-cultural contest, which attracted a sizeable portion of Melbourne’s expat European communities. Did this rattle his opponent? Perhaps, because Tsitsipas got off to a disappointing start, framing a number of groundstrokes and struggling to find the court with his first serve. I just was releasing all the emotions that had been stuck because I had to find the strong masculine energy to sustain the pressure of going all the way.”Įarlier, Djokovic had arrived on court without the heavy strapping that has encircled his left thigh for the rest of the tournament. At that point when I hugged my mother and brother, especially, I just teared up and got very emotional and collapsed on the floor and started crying. “It was just one of those moments where you feel a huge burden is off your back,” he said. My suspicion is that he will set a mark that will last for decades – perhaps even centuries – until players are all cyborgs and travel to tournaments via jetpack.Īfter the presentation, Djokovic spoke about his tearful moment. Tsitsipas has already come to his own conclusion, telling the Rod Laver Arena crowd that “He is the greatest that has ever held a tennis racket for sure.” On today’s evidence, he is more than capable of sweeping the board this year, and thus opening up clear water between himself and the rest of the “Big Three”.

(The acronym stands for “greatest of all time”.) This denotes his 22 grand-slam titles, now that he has drawn level with Rafael Nadal at the top of a table which has also been described as “the Goat race”. “This is probably the biggest victory in my life considering the circumstances.”Ĭheekily, Djokovic had come prepared with a jacket emblazoned with the figure “22”, which he pulled on ahead of the ceremony. “Only my team and family know what we have been through these past four to five weeks,” said Djokovic during his presentation speech. And then he returned to his chair and sobbed mightily into his towel, releasing the tensions of an angst-filled month. First he climbed up to his player box and windmilled the air with his fists. The emotions spilled out after his 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 victory over Greek pin-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.

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