(Tennis news) Novak Djokovic will reclaim the number 1 ATP throne for the first time since June 2022. Novak has been a player to beat since last year’s Wimbledon as he has barely lost a match and won six titles, including two Majors in that period. On Sunday, Novak won his tenth Australian Open trophy which helped him add 2000 ATP points to his tally. The Serb passed Carlos Alcaraz on the ATP rankings and became world no. 1 for the seventh time in a career. Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam last year at the US Open and became the youngest world no 1 at 19 years.

The Spaniard was at the top for 20 weeks, but his reign was over when Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open final. Djokovic came into the Australian open with a hamstring injury, and his left leg did bother him greatly in the opening three matches but he battled through all pain and the controversy surrounding his father. The Serb battled past Roberto Carballes Baena, Enzo Couacaud and Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets which ultimately meant that he preserving energy for the second week of the tournament.

Novak felt much better on the court from the fourth round as he sailed past Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev to advance into the semi-final. The Greek who was playing his first Australian Open finals for his first Grand Slam crown but he could not match the Serb’s level. Stefanos only broke Novak’s serve once, early in the third set and it was still not enough to bring him at least a set. Djokovic made a commanding start and controlled the match especially both tiebreakers as he emerged at the top and matched Rafael Nadal’s 22 Major titles.

Novak broke Tsitsipas’ serve in the first set’s fourth game after a double fault and served well to take the first set 6-3 in 36 minutes. Tsitsipas raised his game in the second set and created a set point at 5-4 but Djokovic denied it and claimed the tie break for a massive lead in the match. They traded breakpoints in the third set as Novak built an early lead in the tie break. Tsitsipas did manage to save two match points and fought back to 5-6 before Djokovic seized the opportunity with his third championship to seal his 10th Australian Open in 11 finals at Melbourne Park. He now has the most number of Australian Open single titles than any other tennis player.

Also read: Novak Djokovic storms his way into the Australian Open final