Even Djokovic Was Surprised With the Championship Victory

Written by: Staff on 30th January 2012

Even Djokovic Was Surprised With the Championship Victory

Novak Djokovic of Serbia smiles at a decision by the umpire during his match against Nicolas Mahut of France, in their third round match at the Rod Laver Arena, at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2012. EPA/JOE CASTRO EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

©”DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE”

Even Novak Djokovic was impressed by the fighting performance which led him past Rafael Nadal and onto his fifth major title with a victory at the Australian Open 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5.

The win which went well into the next morning was an epic, and at nearly six hours the longest major title match ever played. “Just the fact that we played almost six hours is incredible, incredible,” said the Serb. “The longest finals in the history of all Grand Slams… just to hear that fact is making me cry, really.”

Djokovic extended his phenomenal victory spring over Nadal to seven straight finals dating to last March – three of them came at the last three majors. “I’m very proud just to be part of history, part of the elite of the players that have won this tournament for several times,” said the three-time Melbourne champion who also won in 2008 and a year ago.

“I was very flattered to be playing in front of Rod Laver, in front of the all time greats, and in front of 15,000 people that stayed until 1:30 a.m. It’s incredible, really.”

Djokovic said that fighting beyond the pain and endurance barrier over ten-time grand Slam winner Nadal was worth every minute of struggle. “I’m a professional tennis player. I’m sure any other tennis player would say the same: We live for these matches. We work every day. We’re trying to dedicate all our life to this sport to come to the situation where we play six-hour matches for a Grand Slam title.”

©”DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE”

Topics: Australian Open, djokovic, nadal