Recap of the fiercest battles of 2012: Djokovic vs. Nadal – Australian Open 2012
Reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic, encountered the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, in the final round of the Australian Open Grand Slam Championships held at the hard courts of Melbourne Park. The two world class champions
gave each other a tough battle and after five hours and 53 minutes, the Serbian consolidated his five-set win at 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5.
In a post match interview, Djokovic told the media, “I'm very proud just to be part of this history, part of the elite of the players that have won this tournament for several times, and I was very flattered to be playing in front
of Rod Laver, in front of the all time greats. It's incredible, really.”
The Serbian professional sustained his superior run of form from the last year and attained the fifth Grand Slam title. Over-excited Djokovic tore off his shirt as this victory proved to be a great milestone in his career. Along
that, the Spanish number one, Nadal, became the first man in the open era who was unable to secure his third Major title.
Nadal responded “I think we played a great tennis match. It was I think a very good show, my opinion. I enjoyed being part of this event and this match. I wanted to win, but I am happy about how I did. I had my chances against
the best player of the world today.”
The 25-year-old Serbian contender started the match at a very remarkable pace and bagged away the initial three sets. He was very consistent in his serves and made significantly less errors than his usual. However, Djokovic’s strength
was unmatchable and his command over the game was worth a watch.
All in all, the left-hander had a higher initial serve accuracy of 67 percent and 10 aces in total. He committed four double faults with 71 unforced errors. Nadal bagged away 90 of 137 first and 30 of 66 second serve points. On
the other hand, the higher ranked Serbian secured 59 percent first serve precision with nine aces and 67 of 98 points.
In the past, the two challengers met each other on the hard courts of New York at the US Open final. In the final round of the Wimbledon, Nadal bagged home a four-set shocker. The right-hander Serbian is following the lead of Nadal
in the head-to-head series, but his success meter in the year 2011 is classic.
Tags: