Novak Djokovic defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas in Astana Open final to win his 90th career ATP title
Novak Djokovic of Serbia is a two-time Grand Slam champion and the top-seed in this year’s Australian Open.
He has now won his 90th career tennis title in the Astana Open, and the latest of these was another thrilling five-set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Djokovic used a big first-set lead to take an 11-7 lead, but Tsitsipas fought back to equalise 15-all tiebreak with a break of his own.
Tsitsipas went up a break in the third set, and then was up two games in the fourth before coming up just short as Djokovic broke serve to take the set.
Djokovic then went up a break in the fifth set as he pulled off the only win in his past two matches in Brisbane in Brisbane.
“It’s amazing, he’s playing awesome all the time, it’s almost impossible to play against him,” Tsitsipas told AFP.
“He’s the best tennis player in the world. I had a good first set, and got up a break. I could do the same to him. But he was ready for me tonight. It was a great match and a great day.”
“He’s the best player in the world,” Djokovic said, who is now seeded one-and-a-half games ahead of Kei Nishikori, the world number one.
Both players entered the tournament ranked above No. 7, and Djokovic broke two of Nishikori’s serve in the first set, but they were level at two sets all after the opening game of the second set.
Just seconds later, Nishikori was broken right back just one point from winning the match, and Djokovic came back to even the score at five sets all.
But it was Djokovic who had his chances in the third and fourth sets, but could only pull off a tiebreak victory.
Djokovic was once again impressive on clay, hitting a record 72