Djokovic beats Thiem in five sets to win his 8th Australian Ipen title

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 2 Novak Djokovic, 32, Serbia, battled to beat World No 5 Dominic Thiem, 26, Austria, in a five-set marathon in final at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on February 2, 2020, to retain his Australian Open (AO) title, his record extending eighth AO title.

This is Djokovic’s 17th Grand Slam singles title, two behind Rafael Nadal, 33, Spain, and three behind Roger Federer, 38, Switzerland. With this win, Djokovic will return to World No 1 when the ATP Rankings are released on February 3, 2020, as Rafael Nadal lost in the quarter-finals.

Djokovic was trailing 1-2 after the third set but fought back to win the fourth and fifth set to beat Dominic Thiem in five-sets. The Serbian beat Thiem 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in over 4 hours. The final was watched by over 31,000 spectators. The Serbian now leads Thiem 7-4 Head to Head.

Thiem fired 13 Aces in the match to 9 by Djokovic. Both the players committed 5 double faults each in the match. Both of them also won 5 break points each. Thiem though won 6 games in a row in the match to 3 by the Serbian. The Austrian also won 103 service points to 90 by Djokovic.

Djokovic had won his first Australian Open title in 2008, 2nd in 2011, 3rd in 2012, 4th in 2013, 5th in 2015, 6th in 2016, 7th in 2019, and the 8th in 2020. Thiem, who was playing in his third Grand Slam singles final, had beaten Djokovic in four of their last five meetings on ATP tour.