Seven-up Djokovic pulverises Rafa ‘Best I’ve played against Nadal’

World No 1 beats biggest rival to win seventh title and go past Federer, Emerson’s Melbourne record

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic was so good, so relentless, so pretty much perfect, that Rafael Nadal never stood a chance. Djokovic reduced one of the greats of the game to merely another outclassed opponent — just a guy, really — and one so out of sorts that Nadal even whiffed on one of his famous forehands entirely.

In a remarkably dominant and mistake-free performance that yielded a lopsided result, the No. 1-ranked Djokovic overwhelmed Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday night to win a record seventh Australian Open championship and a third consecutive

Grand Slam title, raising his count to 15 overall.

“An amazing level of tennis,” Nadal acknowledged.

After dropping only four games in the semi-finals,

Djokovic spoke about being “in the zone.” Clearly, he did not budge from there, producing

34 winners and nine unforced errors on Sunday.

And this was against no slouch, of course: Nadal is ranked No. 2, owns 17 major trophies himself and hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament.

But Djokovic left Nadal smirking or gritting his teeth or punching his racket strings, unable to compete at all. So Djokovic added to previous triumphs in Melbourne in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, along with four at Wimbledon, three at the U.S. Open and one at the French Open.

He broke his tie with Roger Federer and Roy Emerson for most Australian Open men’s titles. He also broke a tie with Pete Sampras for third-most Grand Slam trophies; Djokovic only trails Federer, with 20, and Nadal. And he is gaining on them. A sore right elbow cost Djokovic the last half of 2017. It contributed to a fourth-round loss in Melbourne a year ago. He had surgery about 11 months ago. All that is in the past.

The 31-year-old Serb is once again at an elite level. If anything, the gap between him and the rest is growing right now.

Djokovic and Nadal know each other, their styles and their patterns all too well. This was their 53rd meeting — more than any other pair of men in the half-century professional era — and record-equalling 15th at a Grand Slam event. It was also their eighth matchup in a major final. So there should not have been any mysteries out there on Rod Laver Arena’s blue court as they began with the temperatureat a manageable 75 (25 C) and just a hint of wind. Right from the start, though, this shaped up nothing like their only previous Australian Open title match, back in 2012, which Djokovic won in 5 hours, 53 minutes, the longest Slam final in history.

Evenly matched as they were that night, this time was no contest. None whatsoever. It lasted a tad more than 2 hours.

Watching things swing so immediately and irrevocably in Djokovic’s direction really was rather hard to comprehend, as was how someone of Nadal’s experience and excellence could come out of the gate quite so poorly.

Nerves? Perhaps they played a role.

So did Djokovic, whose defence was impenetrable.

No ball, no matter how wellstruck, seemed to be out of Djokovic’s reach. MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic said he played his “best final in a Grand Slam” to win a record magnificent seventh Australian Open. “It’s one of the best, if not the best, matches I’ve played in a Grand Slam final,” the Serbian world No. 1 said.

The demolition of second seed Nadal put Djokovic, 31, out on his own ahead of Roger Federer and Roy Emerson, who both won six Australian Open men’s singles titles. The top seed dropped to his knees and kissed the ground after vanquishing his greatest rival.

“It’s quite unreal we are still playing at this level and still competing for the biggest titles in sport and it’s just an amazing evening,” he said, pausing frequently to hold back his emotions. “Underthecircumstances, maybe this is the best quality tennis I have played against Rafa in a final.”