Atp Adelaide: Djokovic beats Korda in the third set

The Serbian, who appeared very nervous as well as foul and imprecise, gives up the 1st set in the tie break, saves a match point and wins the 2nd in the same way, then beats the American 6-4 in the decisive set

It takes a feat to beat Djokovic in Australia. Korda doesn’t go far, but in Adelaide in the end it is Nole who lays down the law. The Serbian wins the final of the 250 tournament (92nd career title) in three sets, in a comeback, saving a match point in the second set: 6-7 7-6 6-4 in over three hours. A complicated match for Nole, who was also very nervous at times. Victory that demonstrates once again how capable The Djoker is of approaching the concept of “unbeaten” in Australia, a land reconquered after last year’s expulsion: even when he seems close to defeat and doesn’t express his best tennis, in the end the tick. If he also wins in this version – more foul than usual, not very constant, with outbursts of anger – it gets tough for the others. Also because without Alcaraz, with Medvedev far from his standards and the unknown Nadal, on paper there doesn’t seem to be any rival at the Australian Open.

the first set

Djokovic’s difficulties can also be explained by Korda’s excellent performance, who has never beaten a player with a better ranking than ninth position. The American partially relives when it happened in the spring in Indian Wells against Nadal, his all-time idol: defeat after being over 5-2 in the third set, with two breaks ahead. The class of 2000 manages to compete with the greats, there is always a step missing but the signs are positive. Korda plays solid tennis, isn’t afraid to challenge Djokovic on the diagonal backhand (there are some mistakes, but also several excellent shots down the line) and annoys Nole. Not surprisingly, the Serbian is very nervous after losing the first set in the tie break after saving seven set points and having had two: he even kicks someone out of his corner, probably his brother, yelling several times “Go out” in Italian .

djoko blasts

The match remains tight in the second set, Djokovic finds himself facing a match point on his serve and saves it with a nice back smash. Nole dominates the tie break of the second set, in the third he breaks the serve from Korda at the most beautiful, at 5-4 in favor: the Serbian puts in four points in a row from 40-15 for the American – with a double fault and a couple of great defenses – and won 6-4.

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