Novak Djokovic, who will return to the world number one ranking on Monday, kept his nerves as he rallied from a set down to beat fifth seed Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open final on Sunday, winning 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4.
Djokovic comfortably won the first set 6-4 with two break points. But the Austrian found his way back into the match after the Serbian started struggling physically from the middle of the second set. The second and third set went Thiem’s way 6-4, 6-2.
The Serb fought back to win the fourth set 6-3 and the fifth 6-4 to deny the Austrian his first Grand Slam.
In contrast, Djokovic has now bagged eight title in Australia and 17th major titles overall, two shy of Rafael Nadal’s haul of 19 and three shy of Roger Federer’s 20.
