iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
Other tennis tournaments have allowed Russian and Belarusian players to compete as neutral athletes
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Djokovic saves match point to beat Korda for Adelaide crown
Djokovic was pushed hard by Korda before the Serb made a late charge to deny his opponent a potentially career-defining win
Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning the final of the ATP Adelaide International. — AFP
Novak Djokovic dug deep to save a match point on the way to a battling 6-7(8) 7-6(3) 6-4 victory over Sebastian Korda in the Adelaide International 1 final on Sunday ahead of this month's Australian Open.
A day after he overwhelmed Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal despite sustaining a hamstring injury, Djokovic moved freely on court but was pushed hard by Korda before the Serb made a late charge to deny his opponent a potentially career-defining win.
"I hope you enjoyed the show tonight," Djokovic said. "I want to say a few words to Seb and his team. Amazing tournament, amazing effort today. I'll probably say that you were closer to the victory today than I was.
"The future is bright for you so just keep going."
Korda broke for a 5-4 lead in a tense first set and was 40-0 up on serve when Djokovic hit back to level the scores, but the world number five came undone in the tiebreak as the American soaked up the pressure to convert his seventh set point.
A fuming Djokovic yelled at and banished two members of his entourage from their courtside seats before the second set, in which he uncharacteristically struggled with his returns to allow Korda to dominate the rallies.
But with the crowd behind him on his return to Australia after his deportation last year due to his unvaccinated coronavirus status, Djokovic raised his game to save a match point before forcing a tiebreak which the top seed won.
Djokovic held for a 5-4 lead in the final set and the 35-year-old closed out victory with a break of serve as Korda finally felt the pressure and double-faulted before making two errors.
Djokovic thanked his team for tolerating him in good and bad times.
"Today I'm sure they didn't have a blast with me going back and forth with them," Djokovic said before addressing the crowd. "It definitely felt like playing at home. You guys made me feel very welcome, so thank you."
Victory also helped Djokovic go level with his great rival Rafa Nadal on 92 ATP singles titles in the open era, with only Ivan Lendl (94), Roger Federer (103) and Jimmy Connors (109) ahead of the duo.
Djokovic is bidding for a record-extending 10th Australian Open title at the Jan. 16-29 tournament to draw level with Nadal on 22 Grand Slam titles.
ALSO READ:
More news from Sports
Azeem Rafiq — a former player at Yorkshire — went public in 2020 saying he had been the victim of racial harassment and bullying across two spells at English cricket’s most successful club between 2008-18
The international gold category matches of the Padel Championship witnessed exciting duels in the round of 32
Doug Watson, Bhupat Seemar and Ernst Oertel united in view of trainer’s honours as 2022-2023 season reaches its finale
Khan struck a sublime 103 from 84 deliveries that was generously peppered with nine boundaries and two sixes
Discussions have taken place that could see Pakistan shifting their games to a neutral venue and Bangladesh has been proposed as venue due to its close proximity to India
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday recommended to sports federations and events organisers that Russian and Belarusian athletes return to competition "only" as individuals under a neutral flag
De Villiers made a return to Bengaluru to be a part of the 'RCB Unbox' event, where he was inducted into the franchise's Hall of Fame along with long-time teammate Chris Gayle