MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Factbox on Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who defeated Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in the Australian Open final on Sunday to tie the men’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles.
Age: 35
Country: Serbia
ATP Ranking: 1
Seeding: 4
Grand Slam titles: 22 (Australian Open 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023; French Open 2016, 2021; Wimbledon 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022; U.S. Open 2011, 2015, 2018)
ROAD TO FINAL
First round: Roberto Carballes Baena (Spain) 6-3 6-4 6-0
Second round: Enzo Couacaud (France) 6-1 6(5)-7 6-2 6-0
Third round: Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 7-6(7) 6-3 6-4
Fourth round: Alex de Minaur (Australia) 6-2 6-1 6-2
Quarter-finals: Andrey Rublev (Russia) 6-1 6-2 6-4
Semi-finals: Tommy Paul (U.S.) 7-5 6-1 6-2
EARLY LIFE
* Began playing tennis aged four.
* His father was a professional skier and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps or play professional soccer but changed his mind when Djokovic excelled at tennis from an early age.
CAREER TO DATE
* Made Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at the 2005 Australian Open. Finished as the youngest player (18 years, five months) inside the top 100.
* In 2006, he won his first ATP tour title at Amersfoort.
* Reached his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open in 2007, losing to Roger Federer.
* Won his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open — becoming the first Serbian man to win a singles major.
* Led Serbia to their first Davis Cup title in December 2010.
* Began 2011 by winning seven successive tournaments and did not lose until June, when Federer ended his 41-match winning streak in the French Open semi-finals.
* Secured the number one ranking in July 2011 by reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals, then beat Nadal to clinch his first Wimbledon crown, his first title on grass.
* Defeated Federer in the 2011 U.S. Open semis then beat Nadal in the final to become the seventh man to win three Grand Slam titles in a year since tennis turned professional in 1968.
* Won his third Australian Open title in 2012 by defeating Nadal in five hours and 53 minutes and began 2013 by beating Andy Murray to become the first man in the professional era to win three successive Australian Open titles.
* Beat Federer in a five-set Wimbledon final in 2014.
* Reached all four Grand Slam finals in 2015. Began the year by capturing a fifth Australian Open title.
* Won third Wimbledon title by defeating Federer in the final. Beat Federer in U.S. Open final, earning three Grand Slam titles in a year for a second time.
* Beat Murray in the 2016 Australian Open final to win his 11th Grand Slam title.
* Beat Murray again in the French Open final that year to win the claycourt major on his 12th attempt. The win not only completed his Grand Slam collection but he also became only the third man — after Don Budge and Rod Laver — to hold all four majors at the same time.
* Retired in the 2017 Wimbledon quarter-finals and ended his season in July with a right elbow injury. Returned from a six-month injury absence at the 2018 Australian Open. Had elbow surgery following a last-16 exit.
* Beat Kevin Anderson in the 2018 Wimbledon final to seal his 13th Grand Slam. Capped off the year by winning the U.S. Open crown for the third time.
* Defeated Nadal to claim his 15th major and seventh Australian Open title in 2019.
* His 26-match winning streak in Grand Slams ended with a loss to Dominic Thiem in the French Open semis.
* Came from two match points down to defeat Federer in the final and claim his fifth Wimbledon title. It was the first time a Wimbledon singles title had been decided in the final set tiebreak that was introduced at 12-12.
* Failed to successfully defend his title at the U.S. Open after retiring due to injury in the fourth round.
* Helped Serbia win the inaugural ATP Cup in 2020 before triumphing at Melbourne Park for the eighth time.
* With 2019 champion Nadal and Federer opting to skip the 2020 U.S. Open, Djokovic was favourite to triumph but was defaulted in the fourth round after accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball. The disqualification ended his 26-0 winning run in 2020.
* Lost to Nadal in straight sets in the final of the rescheduled 2020 French Open.
* Beat Daniil Medvedev for a record-extending ninth Australian Open title in 2021.
* Beat Stefanos Tsitsipas for his second French Open title and 19th Grand Slam crown, thus becoming the first man since tennis turned professional in 1968 to win all four majors at least twice.
* Beat Matteo Berrettini in the Wimbledon final to win a 20th singles Grand Slam title.
* His bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2021 fell short after he lost to Medvedev in the U.S. Open final.
* Missed the Australian Open in 2022 after being deported from the country for not being vaccinated against COVID-19.
* Beat Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final to win his 21st Grand Slam title and fourth straight crown at the All England Club.
* Djokovic is forced to withdraw from the 2022 Canadian and American hard court tournaments due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19.
* Lost the 2022 Paris Masters final to 19-year-old Holger Rune.
* Won his sixth ATP Finals title, equalling Roger Federer’s record, and becomes the oldest champion in the 53-year history of the tournament at 35.
* Won 92nd ATP title at the 2023 Adelaide International 1.
* Beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2023 Australian Open final for his 10th title in Melbourne. Returns to the number one ranking and ties Nadal’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles.
(Compiled by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Ken Ferris)
