Unsinkable Djokovic Edges Thiem In Five-Set Slugfest To Keep Perfect Australian Open Final Record

And for a perfect eighth time in as many tries, Djokovic walked off an Australian Open final the winner. For his first hardcourt Major final appearance, Dominic Thiem threw everything at Djokovic – but the defending champion was simply unsinkable. He extends his titanic Grand Slam tally to 17.

Expectedly, Djokovic started right out the gates, breaking Thiem in his first try to mount an early 4-1 lead. Despite the Austrian’s late surge from 1-4 to 4-4, Djokovic broke again on a Thiem double fault to secure the first set 6-4.

Satz eins geht an den Djoker!
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Herren-Finale @ThiemDomi vs @DjokerNole LIVE
🎙 feat. @TheBorisBecker
📺 Eurosport 1 HD | 🖥📲 Eurosport Player#AusOpen #Thiem #Djokovic #ThiemDjokovic pic.twitter.com/tPAHbCbZgN

— Eurosport DE (@Eurosport_DE) February 2, 2020

23% of points won after his 2nd serve so far for Thiem. That explains all this struggle on every game to win his serve and puts a lot of pressure on him.

— Patrick Mouratoglou (@pmouratoglou) February 2, 2020

There were some worrying signs for Thiem. When winning the first set, Djokovic was:

— 66-1 at the Australian Open

— 53-0 in his last 53 Grand Slam matches

But the match stayed on Thiem’s terms thanks to the No. 5 seed’s heavy groundstrokes, which helped him to a 4-2 lead in the second set.

https://twitter.com/MattRacquet/status/1223906396061782016

While Djokovic reclaimed his break, he received two consecutive time violation warnings at 4-4 then had a heated argument with umpire Damien Dumusois.

“Great job, man. You’ve made yourself famous. Well done,” Djokovic told Dumusois.

Djokovic rattled! 😲

What an interesting game that was…

Watch: @Channel9
Stream: https://t.co/MeRyhMjGXm#9WWOS #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/lVxEpaeQmW

— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) February 2, 2020

"You've made yourself famous, well done." 👍

The #AusOpen umpire is NOT in Djokovic's goodbooks 🤐

🇦🇺 Watch the final LIVE
📺 Eurosport 1
📱💻🖥 Eurosport Player: https://t.co/0Fa7uXMVB9 pic.twitter.com/GamYG5MS2U

— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 2, 2020

He then lost his serve and the set, 6-4.

Thiem built on the momentum to take a double-break advantage in the third set, inflicting a virtual bagel (6-0 over two sets) to Djokovic, who called the trainer while down 1-4. The Austrian converted his fourth set point to take the set, 6-2, and edge closer to his first Grand Slam title.

This time around, stats were rather worrying for Djokovic…

This is the first time Djokovic has ever trailed 2 sets to 1 in an AO final.

— Matt Trollope (@MattyAT) February 2, 2020

Djokovic is 0-7 in Grand Slam finals when 2 sets to 1 down.

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) February 2, 2020

But the Serbian hadn’t say die. He broke for 5-3 in the fourth and levelled the match to two sets all.

With a 3-1 record in Grand Slam final sets (his only loss coming to Andy Murray at the 2012 US Open), Djokovic had regained favorite status, and one crucial break at 2-1 would prove enough to earn him a record-extending 8th Australian Open title (6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4) on a last Thiem unforced error.

Gr8⃣ness

🏆 2008
🏆 2011
🏆 2012
🏆 2013
🏆 2015
🏆 2016
🏆 2019
🏆 2020#AusOpen | #AO2020 | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/g0j8o3gZA7

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 2, 2020

In his winner’s speech, Djokovic acknowledged both the bushfires that ravaged Australia this summer and the tragic loss of his mentor, Kobe Bryant.

"This is a reminder to all of us that we should stick together more than ever."

Words of wisdom from eight-time #AusOpen champion, @DjokerNole. #AO2020 pic.twitter.com/b2yrSfW6IG

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 2, 2020

With now 17 Slams to his name — just two and three less than Nadal and Federer respectively — the arguments for Novak Djokovic not being the G.O.A.T. of men’s tennis continue to get slimmer.