Melbourne (AFP)

World No.1 Novak Djokovic won his record-breaking 9th Australian Open and 18th Grand Slam title, beating Russian Daniil Medvedev (4th) in three sets 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in less than two hours, Sunday in Melbourne.

At 33, Djokovic thus returns to two lengths of the record for Grand Slam trophies co-held by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

The physical bet of the Serbian, who had seemed on the verge of abandonment in the third round, affected the abdominals, is perfectly raised.

Medvedev lost his second major final after the 2019 US Open and saw his streak of twenty consecutive victories abruptly interrupted.

“The last two weeks have been a roller coaster for me,” Djokovic recalled.

The Serbian had left doubts about the rest of his tournament after being injured in the middle of the third round match against the American Taylor Fritz, from which he had come out somehow in five sets.

"I want to thank the Rod Laver Arena, the love story continues," he concluded.

Forgotten his abdominal pain which had arisen in the third round, then had accompanied him during his next two matches: in the final, Djokovic only let Medvedev stand up to him for the time of the first set.

- Martyred Medvedev -

Ideally entered into the game, the world No. 1 took advantage of the Russian's hesitant start to quickly escape 3 games to 0 in just eight minutes.

But Medvedev, progressively more efficient in service and more enduring in extended exchanges, came back to height (3-3) and then gave the impression that a fight could take shape between the two players.

A feeling quickly dissipated by Djokovic, once the first round pocketed 7-5.

In the second set, the Serbian was broken from the start, but he then lined up four games.

A racket smashed by Medvedev, martyred behind his second ball, when he found himself down 5-2 did not change anything.

In the third, "Djoko" again took off at speed (3-0).

Before concluding with a final break.

"I would have liked to make this match last and make it more interesting for you (the public, note), but it was not the day", apologized Medvedev.

The 25-year-old Russian had yet won three of his last four face-to-face meetings with Djokovic.

Above all, straddling 2020 and 2021, he had built a series of twenty consecutive victories, winning successively at the Masters 1000 in Paris, the Masters at the end of the year, then at the ATP Cup with Russia at the start of the months, before reaching the final in Melbourne.

He also remained on a series of twelve straight wins against Top 10 players.

His last defeat dated back to October 30, in the quarter-finals in Vienna, against South African Kevin Anderson (6-4, 7-6).

Despite his deadly defeat, Medvedev will climb for the first time on the podium in the world rankings on Monday, on the third step.

Djokovic, he will remain unsurprisingly on the throne.

Better still, he spent the 311th week of his career there on the week of March 8, seizing the record until then owned by Federer.

Djokovic and Nadal have now got their hands on ten of the last eleven Grand Slam titles (since Roland-Garros 2018).

Only Dominic Thiem, at the US Open 2020, managed to steal one from them.

© 2021 AFP