On Friday in Melbourne, Novak Djokovic defeated Tommy Paul 7-5 6-1 6-2 in the semifinals of the Australian Open. With the win, the Serb is into his tenth final in Australia. The numbers are starting to get a little mind-boggling, so we’ve condensed the stats behind his most recent victory into a list of the best five.
Five Stats Behind Novak Djokovic’s 10th Australian Open Final
1. Streak in Australia
Since losing to Hyeon Chung in 2018, Djokovic hasn’t let his guard down in Australia again.
Over the course of four Australian Opens (including this one), two ATP Cups and this year’s appearance in Adelaide, Djokovic has been untouchable on hard-courts Down Under, winning 40 matches in a row.
Can he make it 41 matches and seven titles on the bounce in Australia?
2. Can’t Stop Winning
Djokovic’s streaks haven’t just been limited to Australia recently.
- Djokovic has won 29 of his last 30 matches played (one loss to Holger Rune in Paris).
- A third of these matches were against Top 10 opponents (10-0 record in this time).
- Djokovic has won six of the last eight tournaments he’s played, including the Rome Masters, Wimbledon, and the ATP Finals.
3. Least Games Dropped
Having now made a tenth final in Australia, Djokovic has dropped only 50 games in his six matches. This is the least games the former wWrld #1 has dropped en route to an Australian Open final (with all six matches having been completed).
The stat could be attributed to the insane level he brought to his last three matches, dispatching Alex De Minaur, Andrey Rublev, and Tommy Paul to the loss of five, seven, and eight games, respectively. He dropped his only set of the tournament to Enzo Couacaud in the second round.
4. Latter Stage God
With the win over Paul, Djokovic now improves his record in Australian Open semifinals to a perfect 10-0. He is also currently unbeaten in Australian Open finals.
Since 2011 in fact, Djokovic has made the quarters of Australia ten times. He’s gone on to win the tournament on eight occasions, losing to Stan Wawrinka in the quarters in 2014.
We’ll find out what happens the tenth time against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday.
5. Veteran Dominance
Novak Djokovic currently holds the record of nine Grand Slam titles won after reaching the age of 30. Rafael Nadal may be only one title behind him, but it feels as though Djokovic’s dominance as a veteran of the sport could have a longer lifespan than the Spaniard’s.
Were he to go on to win his tenth title in Australia, Djokovic would stand alone as the only man to win a number of Grand Slams in his 30s in the double digits.
Do not miss the final between Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas on the 29th January at 19:30 AET (8:30 GMT).
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
