Although Novak Djokovic failed to win a standalone 25th Grand Slam title in Australia, he did manage to make more history at the event.
Djokovic produced one of the most remarkable performances of his career to defeat Jannik Sinner, whom the Serbian star had lost to in his past five meetings.
Despite going two sets to one down against Sinner, Djokovic fought back to claim a stunning victory, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Can Carlos Alcaraz win MORE Grand Slams than Novak Djokovic? 🤔
Djokovic, who also set an Open Era record during the tournament, issued a fiery response ahead of the match following a question from a journalist.
Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula – two of America’s WTA stars – have praised Djokovic for his response.
Jessica Pegula says Novak Djokovic was motivated to beat Jannik Sinner after a journalist’s question during a press conference
After a fortunate victory against Lorenzo Musetti in the Australian Open quarter-finals, Novak Djokovic was asked by a journalist whether he is ‘chasing’ Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
In response, Djokovic said: “Well, I find it a little bit disrespectful that you kind of miss out on what happened in between where the times when I started chasing, as you say, Rafa and Roger, and now that I’m chasing Carlos and Jannik, and there’s probably about a 15-year period in between where I was dominating the Grand Slams.
“So I think it’s important to put that in perspective. I don’t feel like I’m chasing, to be honest.”
Madison Keys has praised Djokovic’s response in a recent episode of the Player’s Box Podcast, calling the Serbian’s clapback a ‘great response.’
She said: “I thought he had a great response where he was like are we not going to talk about the middle where I was chasing Rafa and Roger and then I dominated and now I’m chasing again? We are going to skip that giant middle!”
Jessica Pegula then chimed in, pointing to the journalist’s question as a possible source of motivation during his semi-final match against Jannik Sinner.
“I feel like that low key motivated him to beat Jannik,” the American said. “That was right before, right? I think it lit a fire. That was good!”
Djokovic’s next ATP event
As things currently stand, Novak Djokovic’s next tournament is the Qatar Open, taking place from February 16 to 21.
The ATP 500 tournament of the Year for 2025 is also set to feature Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Andrey Rublev, who is the defending champion.
What does Novak Djokovic need to change to win a 25th Grand Slam title?
After the Qatar Open, Djokovic is not on the entry lists for any tournament until the Indian Wells Masters.
The tournament, taking place from March 4 to 15, was last won by Jack Draper.
