What Novak Djokovic achieved by winning the 2019 Australian Open

Novak Djokovic winning the Australian Open this year—beating Rafael Nadal in the final, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3—was historic in many ways. Here’s some of what he achieved with his triumph in Melbourne:

He won the 15th Grand Slam title of his career. Djokovic is now third place on the men’s all-time list for most career Grand Slam titles, breaking a tie with his childhood idol, Pete Sampras (who won 14) and now trailing just Roger Federer (who has 20) and Nadal (who has 17).

He became the first man in tennis history to win seven Australian Opens. Coming into this year, Djokovic was in a three-way tie for the record with six-time champions Roy Emerson and Federer.

He improved to 7-0 in Australian Open finals. Not only that, Djokovic is 7-0 in his career in Australian Open semifinals—so after the quarters, he’s 14-0 in his career at the first major of the year.

He’s now won nine of his last 11 Grand Slam finals. Midway through the 2014 season, Djokovic had a losing 6-7 career record in Grand Slam finals—but with a 9-2 record in his last 11, he’s now 15-9.

He handed Nadal his first straight-set defeat in a Grand Slam final. Of Nadal’s previous seven losses in a Grand Slam final, he’d pushed four to four sets and three to five sets—but after just two hours and four minutes, the Spaniard was dealt the first straight-set loss in a Grand Slam final of his career.

He improved to 28-25 against Nadal. Their 53 meetings are actually the most career meetings for two men in the Open Era (next are Djokovic and Federer’s 47—Djokovic leads that series too, 25-22).

He became the first man in the Open Era to win finals at three straight Grand Slams in straight sets. He beat Kevin Anderson in the 2018 Wimbledon final in straight sets, Juan Martin del Potro in the 2018 US Open final in straight sets, and Nadal in the 2019 Australian Open final in straight sets.

He’s the first man ever to record three streaks of three or more straight Grand Slam titles. He won three in a row from 2011 Wimbledon to the 2012 Australian Open, four from 2015 Wimbledon to the 2016 French Open, and now three again from 2018 Wimbledon to the 2019 Australian Open. No man had ever done that (Rod Laver and Federer have had two streaks of three or more).

He improved to 35-0 as the No. 1 seed at the Australian Open. Djokovic has won the title every time he’s been the top seed Down Under—that would be in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and now 2019.

He now has a 2,635-point cushion at No. 1. Djokovic now has 10,955 ranking points, 2,635 ahead of No. 2 Nadal (who has 8,320). Even more daunting—the Serb only has 155 points to defend over the next three and a half months (a stretch that includes four Masters 1000 tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid—tournaments he’s won a combined total of 15 times previously).

This Week on Tennis Channel Plus:

WTA St. Petersburg: Starting Monday, Jan. 28 at 5 a.m. ET, catch live coverage of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy featuring Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova.

WTA Hua Hin: Top seed Garbine Muguruza headlines the field from Hua Hin. Watch every match of the Thailand Open, starting Monday, Jan. 28 at 3 a.m. ET.