Djokovic wins the Australian Open
Serena Williams tops Sharapova
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic clinched his fifth Australian Open title on Sunday, defeating Andy Murray 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-0. What looked destined for a close contest got lopsided from the third set on as Andy Murray lost the plot to lose his fourth final at the Australian Open.
With Roger Federer taken care of by Andrea Seppi in Round 3 and Tomas Berdych ousting Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, Djokovic was left to fight his emerging nemesis, Stanislas Wawrinka. It took another five-setter to decide the semi-final between the duo but the Serb outlasted the Swiss to avenge last year’s quarter final loss.
Serena Williams defeated world No. 2, Maria Sharapova 6-3, 7-5 to clinch her sixth Australian Open title. Her latest and 19th Grand Slam triumph helped her move past Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and claim second place in the list of most Grand Slam titles won by women in the open era. She trails Steffi Graf by three.
Sensationally this was the sixteenth consecutive time Williams has defeated Sharapova, making for one of the most lopsided rivalries in recent history. En route to the final Williams defeated American teenage sensation Madison Keys who had her best performance in a Grand Slam (Semi Finalist) that included a hard fought three-set victory over Venus Williams.
Martina Hingis won her first Grand Slam title in almost a decade when she and partner Leander Paes clinched the mixed doubles crown with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Kristina Mladenovic of France and Daniel Nestor of Canada. Having clinched the Australian Open Singles and Doubles titles from 1997 to 1999, her last Grand Slam triumph was also at the Australian Open, a mixed doubles title with another Indian doubles star, Mahesh Bhupathi.