Djokovic makes great escape to win Adelaide title

Novak Djokovic got out of jail and won a three-hour marathon on Sunday, defeating Sebastian Korda 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 on Sunday to win his second title at the Adelaide International.

Victory marked his 92nd career title from 131 finals and puts in the driving seat when the Australian Open starts in eight days in Melbourne.

Djokovic saved a match point deep in the second set as he nailed a tough overhead winner to deny his American opponent, son of former No. 2 from two decades ago.

The world No. 5 winner, who was tossed out of the country a year ago for trying to arrive unvaxxed, was boosted by massive crowd support from local fellow Serbs at Memorial Drive.

“Standing her is a gift. I gave everything today and this week to get my hands on this trophy.

“”The support that I’ve been getting in the past 10 days is something that I don’t think I’ve experienced too many times in my life.

“Thank you so much [to] everyone for coming out every single match. It felt like playing at home, that’s for sure. I felt very welcome.”

Djokovic, who will bid for a 10th Australian Open title, has won his last 34 matches in the country dating to early 2019; he also claimed a fifth consecutive career title dating to October.

“You were closer to victory today than I was,” Djokovic told his opponent. “This match was decided by one or two shots.

“Tough luck – but your future is bright.”

Korda returned the compliment: “I want to congratulate Novak, he played unbelievable.

“It was a great match today, hopefully we’ll have many more battles.

“This was a great start to the year, I wish I could have gotten it done but this was a positive week.”

Bill Scott

Recent Posts

Ruud rolls out his 31st win this season

Casper Ruud maintained the pace with his 31st match win of the season to reach the…

8 hours ago

Keys unlocks an upset with defeat of Gauff

Madison Keys sprang an upset on third seed Coco Guff on Monday as she won a…

8 hours ago

Nadal struggles but finds a way to win

Rafael Nadal needed more than three hours to complete his most impressive recent fightback, with…

13 hours ago

Alcaraz blows past Brazilian to advance in Madrid

Carlos Alcaraz won nine straight games to arrive at the cusp of a win, but needed…

2 days ago

Nadal leans on memories if form doesn’t lift before RG

Rafael Nadal is seriously tamping down expectations for the French Open, with the 13-time champion…

2 days ago

Mateship kicked to the curb in Sinner win

Jannik Sinner put his friendship with Lorenzo Sonego on the back burner in a 6-0,…

2 days ago