Iconic Novak Djokovic tennis racket set to sell for incredible sum at auction

There are only a handful of tennis matches that can be considered among the greatest of all time and one of them is the 2012 Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

The epic final instantly added to the legacy of two of the game’s all-time greats as it five hours and 53 minutes, making it the longest Grand Slam final of all time.

Djokovic eventually prevailed with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 victory and now tennis fans have been handed a chance to bid for the racket the Serbian legend used in that historic match.

The Serbian legend famously celebrated by ripping off his shirt and roaring to the packed crowd inside Rod Laver Arena, an unforgettable moment capturing the raw emotion and sense of relief running through his veins as the final blow was delivered.

Famously, Djokovic and Nadal were struggling to stand up as an over-talkative sponsor gave a long speech at the end of their incredible match, with Australian Open officials bringing out chairs for the two gladiators to sit on.

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“It was obvious on the cour that both of us, physically, we took the last drop of energy that we had from our bodies. We made history tonight and unfortunately, there couldn’t be two winners,” said Djokovic after his win.

Now SCP Auctions is offering the racquet Novak used in this epic final that many consider the greatest match in tennis history.

Incredibly, Djokovic handed his racquet to seller shortly after match poin and the lucky seller is now set to cash with a huge windfall.

Since 2009, Djokovic has endorsed and used HEAD Speed racquets on tour.

He played with this HEAD YouTek Speed MP 315 model from the middle of 2011 until the end of the 2012 calendar year.

It has an 18×20 (vertical by horizontal) string pattern and a 27-inch frame painted black and white with orange accents. “Novak” is labeled within the throat across from a manually affixed “SUN 27.0” white sticker, which corresponds to the day of the week the racquet was strung and its frame length. Adjacent is a smaller “BO70701” serial numbered decal. The butt underneath the handle is properly sized at 4-3/8 inches.

Djokovic is very particular about his racquets, placing two gray strips of lead tape along the inner frame beam to achieve his desired weight on the racquet head. His custom grip on the handle is double wrapped over Calfskin leather, creating side bevels to make it more rectangular.

In addition, he uses natural animal gut material (from sheep or cow intestines) for his vertical strings. His racquet is strung at such high tension that the vertical gut strings tend to break on their own just a few months after use.

The racquet displays evidence of significant use with scratches and marks from the Australian Open hardcourt on the outer beam – ideal matching points that allowed for multiple photo-matches.

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The white grip has yellowed a bit from perspiration and storage. Eight of the vertical strings have naturally snapped from their grommet attachment points (as animal gut is prone to do). Other than that, all elements are as-issued and problem-free.

The racket is estimated to sell for in excess of $200k when the final bid is registered this coming Sunday and it is already has a bid of $130,000.

Djokovic’s iconic racket from the 2016 French Open Final sold at auction for $107,500 in 2023.

That was believed to be the third-highest sum spent on a single tennis racket, just behind the $139,700 spent on Rafael Nadal’s 2022 Australian Open racket, which he used to win a then-record 21st Grand Slam and the $125,000 paid for Billie Jean King’s wooden racket from her famous ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match against Bobby Rig in 1973.

Now this racket looks set to break all records, with bidding expected to rise significantly before Sunday’s deadline.

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