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Melbourne (AP) - With an impressive show of force, Novak Djokovic made his ninth title at the Australian Open perfect.
In an unexpectedly tensionless final, last year's Serbian winner won 7: 5, 6: 2, 6: 2 against challenger Daniil Medvedev and is increasingly becoming the outstanding tennis player in Melbourne's history.
The Serb mercilessly ended the run of the 25-year-old Russian, who had previously won 20 games in a row, and managed his next title hat-trick in Australia.
The debate as to when a player from the not so young successor generation can finally defeat a representative of the formative men's trio in one of the most important finals will continue.
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For the second time, Djokovic has triumphed three times in a row in the metropolis on the Yarra River.
In 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020 he also held the Norman Brooks Challenge Cup in his hands.
He has won all of his finals in the Rod Laver Arena - a memorable record.
Djokovic received prize money of around 1.8 million euros.
With his 18th Grand Slam title, he moved closer to the highs of his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who each have 20.
Medvedev missed the chance to use his last impressive form for his first big title.
In the world rankings he will improve to third place.
In the Rod Laver Arena, which was about half full with around 7500 spectators, Medvedev did not come close to what was expected of him in the final.
Djokovic dominated the start surprisingly one-sided, after just eight minutes it was 3-0.
There was no sign of his abdominal muscle injury, which did not make him seem inviolable during the tournament.
At first, Medvedev was not irritated by the deficit and equalized again.
But a slight forehand error secured Djokovic the first set win.
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Djokovic also forced the 1.98 meter tall Schlaks from Moscow to make mistakes in the second set.
Medvedev took the lead, but the Serbian favorite played aggressively and took Medvedev's serve twice.
Too seldom did the Russian show how he had impressively expanded his winning streak to 20 successes.
With him the frustration grew, at 2: 5 he angrily destroyed his bat.
The 25-year-old didn't seem up to the pressure.
In his first major final at the 2019 US Open, Medvedev was 2-0 down against Nadal and then forced the favorite into the fifth round.
This time Djokovic taught him a lesson - and the dominance of the formative figures in men's tennis continues.
The only Grand Slam title that had not gone to Djokovic, Nadal or Federer in the past four years was secured by Dominic Thiem last September.
The Austrian won the final against Alexander Zverev after Djokovic had taken himself out of the tournament because he unintentionally hit a line judge with the ball and was disqualified.
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Djokovic and Medvedev in direct comparison