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Novak Djokovic final celebration

‘Novak Djokovic was faultless in Australian Open final,’ says former world number one


Mats Wilander said Novak Djokovic was ‘faultless’ in the Australian Open final after he beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.

Djokovic was in total command before powering to a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win to take his Grand Slam count to 18 – just two behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

And, speaking in the Eurosport cube, former world number on Mats Wilander hailed the display from the Serbian.

“It was an unbelievable performance,” Wilander said after the match.

“Djokovic got the dream start, going up 3-0 straight away and then Medvedev came back somehow and you thought maybe this is going to turn into a tough match.

“But then he just played better and better and better. A little bit of a hiccup early in the second set.

“He is so solid, and he wins points in so many different ways today.”

Djokovic had to overcome injury to win his ninth title in Australia, and Wilander said the psychological challenges that brought should not be underestimated.

“Physically we are not really surprised because it was a small injury than we, and most probably Novak thought.

“But confidence-wise, he went through the first four matches, not feeling good, a little bit injured after that Taylor Fritz match.

“Suddenly, the last two matches were faultless – he just didn’t make any mistakes in the semi-finals or the final.”

Watch the Australian Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport app


Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.