Novak Djokovic matches Rafael Nadal’s career title tally with the Adelaide International win

The 2023 season started with a bang for Novak Djokovic. He won the 2023 Adelaide International 1 tournament. This is his 92nd ATP singles title.

Novak Djokovic matches Rafael Nadal’s career title tally with the Adelaide International win

Novak Djokovic with Adelaide International 1 trophy (Image Credit: ATP Tour)

Novak Djokovic entered the first ATP tournament of the season with the sole motive to prepare well for the 2023 Australian Open. He won his career’s 92nd ATP title after beating Sebastian Korda in the final of the Adelaide International 1 tournament. He won against the American despite losing the first set, 6(8)-7(10), 7(7)-6(3), 6-4.

Every tennis fan was waiting for Novak Djokovic’s arrival in Australia with bated breath. This was important after the last January’s deportation fiasco. The whole Australia welcomed the 21-time Grand Slam men’s singles title winner. Fans flocked the stadium to watch him play. The seven-time Wimbledon champion entertained them and signed autographs and posed for selfies for them.

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“It’s been an amazing week and you guys made it even more special. For me to be standing here is a gift, definitely.The support that I’ve been getting in the past 10 days is something that I don’t think I’ve experienced too many times in my life, so thank you so much [to] everyone for coming out every single match,” Novak Djokovic acknowledged the Adelaide crowd’s love and support throughout the competition during the trophy ceremony.

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With this win, the Serb has equaled the record of 22-time Grand Slam men’s singles title winner Rafael Nadal in the list of most ATP singles titles. Now, both players are ranked second on the list. Only Swiss legend Roger Federer is ahead of him with 103 ATP singles titles. Pete Sampras is the fourth player on the list after The Big Three with 64 ATP singles titles.

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Novak Djokovic’s first title victory of the season

Novak Djokovic in the 2023 Adelaid International 1 tournament (Image Credit: Tennis.com)

The Serb started his journey in the 2023 season after a difficult but memorable 2022 season. He won the 2022 Wimbledon gentleman’s singles title along with 4 ATP titles. But the most memorable victory came at the 2022 ATP Finals. He defeated Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-3 in the final. All this despite disgraceful exit from Australia just a day before the start of the Australian Open 2022, last January.

This time he started the season on the second day of the year itself. He played as a doubles pair with Canada’s Vasek Pospisil. However, their pair lost the first match and were knocked out of the tournament. But in the singles event, he came on his own. He started his winning run on 3rd January, 2023 against Constant Lestienne beating him 6-3, 6-2.

He soon gained winning momentum and defeated Quentin Halys, Denis Shapovalov, and Daniil Medvedev one after another. In the final, he defeated Sebastian Korda. This victory must be sounding like alarm bells for the rest of the competition as the nine-time Australian Open champion is back in winning ways. He is looking to win his career’s tenth Australian Open title.

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