Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are once again tied, this time in amount of ATP titles won as the Serbian won a thrilling final.
After beating all of his opponents without losing a set, the 21-time Grand Slam champion took on Sebastian Korda in the 2023 Adelaide International 1 final. The American was also flawless in the Australian city so far and wanted to stun the world no. 5 in the final.
And he began in the best way possible. Both players held their serve without facing a break point for quite a long time in the first set, until Korda got his chance in the ninth game and used it to lead 5-4.
In the next game, he had three set points, but couldn't use any of those as his opponent won eight consecutive points to level the score. The Serbian ten also had a set point, but he couldn't use it and so a tie-break had to decide the first set.
Korda got an early mini-break and led ever since as he served for the set at 6-4. Yet, Djokovic managed to get back into the first set once again and had another set point when he was up 7-6. But the American proved to be the better player at the end of the first set and won the tie-break 10-8 to march into the lead.
Djokovic had two break points early in the second set, but he couldn't use those and found himself in a tricky situation soon. He faced a match point in the twelfth game of the second set, but saved it with aggressive play.
Then, the Serbian dominated the tie-break, winning it 7-3 and forcing a decider.
In the third set, the 21-time Grand Slam champion was a better player from start to finish. Djokovic had two break points early in the set, but despite not using those, he got another chance in the tenth game, which was also his first match point.
He used his chance and after three hours and eleven minutes, the Serbian won 6-7(8), 7-6(3), 6-4 to claim his 92nd ATP title and match his biggest rival, Rafael Nadal.
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