For the eighth time in his career, Novak Djokovic of Serbia has won the 2020 Australian Open. On Sunday, in the first grand slam tennis final of the year, Djokovic, the second seed, defeated the fifth seed, Dominic Thiem of Austria, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and 59 minutes.
This was a men’s final with a significant amount of changes in momentum. Djokovic had the momentum in the early going, lost it in the middle of the match to Thiem, and then regained momentum for the final two sets in the match when his back was against the wall.
There were times in the match that Djokovic seemed to be the one with a lack of energy. This was rather surprising because Djokovic had been on the court significantly longer than Thiem heading into the championship final and had an extra day worth of rest compared to his opponent. In the post game press conference Djokovic admitted to feeling drained, and using up a lot of energy during the inaugural ATP Cup. The ATP Cup is a team competition and is much like the Davis Cup. It took place throughout Australia leading up to the Australian Open and was won by Serbia.
In the championship final on Sunday, Djokovic won 10 more points than Thiem. There is no doubt that the Austrian is a player on the rise. He has now been to three grand slam finals after losing to Rafael Nadal of Spain at the last two French Opens.
The men’s final did not come without controversy. In the second set, Djokovic tapped the chair umpire’s shoe twice when he was called for a time count violation when serving. This could result in a significant fine for Djokovic over the next week. It also could have resulted in a more severe penalty during the match, but chair umpire Damien Dumusois did not institute any further violation.
