In a lopsided final on Sunday, Novak Djokovic defeated Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas to win a record-extending 10th Australian Open championship.
Djokovic cruised to a 6-3 7-6(4) 7-6(5) victory at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in a rematch of the 2021 French Open championship match to restore the world number one position and once more prevent Tsitsipas from winning a first-ever major championship.
The Spaniard Rafa Nadal's record of 22 Grand Slams has now been matched by the Serb.
Serbian and Greek fans barked in the terraces as though cheering on football teams, creating an exciting atmosphere in Melbourne and a frequently disorderly crowd.
The last tiebreak saw Djokovic storm out to a 5-0 lead, but the crowd's chanting of "Nole! Nole" ultimately prevailed as he won the match with a thunderous forehand down the line that Tsitsipas could only hit long.
The 35-year-old Serbian tapped his heart and then his temple as he approached Tsitsipas to shake hands before sprinting to his players' box to embrace and sob with his mother.
A year after his shocking deportation from Australia on the eve of the Grand Slam owing to his lack of COVID-19 immunization, Djokovic's victory was the pinnacle of atonement.
On Sunday, when he was receiving applause from his army of Serbian followers and had triumphed in the battle of generations, that dark moment looked like ancient history.
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