Should Novak Djokovic’s 2023 Australian Open win have an asterisk against it?
It was a victory that cemented Novak Djokovic’s status as the ultimate champion at the Australian Open and sparked many to suggest he deserved a statue named in his honour, yet should the 2023 Australian Open win have an asterisk against it?
Djokovic swept to a 10th Australian Open title and 22nd Grand Slam to equal Rafael Nadal at the top of the men’s all-time standings last January, a year after he had been deported from the country over his Covid vaccine stance.
Amid his dominant victory, dropped just one set all tournament – despite saying he feared a left hamstring problem might force him to withdraw – and finished with a 6-3 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) victory over first-time Australian Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas to claim a 10th title in Melbourne.
Djokovic also reclaimed the world No 1 ranking from Carlos Alcaraz as he won a 28th consecutive Australian Open match and a 41st in a row in the country as a whole.
“This has been one of the most challenging tournaments I’ve ever played in my life,” said Djokovic in his post-match press conference after his win against Tsitsipas.
“Not playing last year, coming back this year. I want to thank all the people that made me feel welcome, made me feel comfortable to be in Melbourne, to be in Australia.
“There’s a reason I’ve played my best tennis on this court. Only my team and my family know what we’ve been through in the last four, five weeks. This probably is the biggest victory in my life considering the circumstances.”
Questioning any aspect of Djokovic’s magnificent victory would be considered an act of treachery by his army of fans, yet that position could be seen as a little hypocritical.
Roll the clock back to 2022 and Djokovic’s notoriously vocal defenders on social media were quick to suggest Nadal’s incredible Australian Open win was only achieved because their man was absent.
Equally, Novak supporters were eager to belittle Alcaraz’s achievement of reaching the world No 1 ranking at a time when Djokovic was missing tournaments due to his Covid vaccine status.
Given that criteria and what transpired over the course of the 2023 tennis season, should we consider last year’s Australian Open as a tournament that has an asterisk against it?
READ MORE: Pundit claims Novak Djokovic has found a way to deal with abuse from fans
This was a tournament lacking the presence of a fully fit Nadal, who lost his second round match against Mackenzie McDonald and didn’t make an appearance back on a tennis court again last year.
That was backed up by the absence of Alcaraz, who didn’t make it to Melbourne due to injury.
Alcaraz was the reigning US Open champion when he missed out on the trip to the Australian Open and while he had yet to beat Djokovic in a Grand Slam match at that point, the events that followed confirmed he was a massive loss in Melbourne.
The teenager went on an impressive run of winning in the first half of 2023, winning in Indian Wells, Barcelona and Madrid.
Alcaraz then lost to Djokovic in what was a tight semi-final until he was struck down by cramping, but he bounced back by beating the Serbian in a thrilling Wimbledon final.
Given that run of success, we can only begin to imagine what Alcaraz could have done if he had been fit and ready to play in Melbourne a ready ago.
Beating Djokovic on Rod Laver Arena is probably the toughest challenge in tennis, but Alcaraz and Nadal were two players who could have pushed the Serbian and he cashed in on their absence to take another title.
Nadal is missing from the Australian Open this year after he pulled out of the event with an injury sustained in his comeback tournament in Brisbane, yet Alcaraz is fit and seemingly in good form after his convincing win against Casper Ruud in a warm-up match in Melbourne.
We may only get an answer to the question posed at the top of this article if Djokovic and Alcaraz meet in this year’s Australian Open final.
While the 24-time Grand Slam champion deserves all the respect for his immaculate record in Australia, only a handful of players have a realistic shot of beating Djokovic and two of those were missing last year.
