Australian Open 2023 Final: Is Novak Djokovic the greatest Hard Court player ever with 10th AO title in sight?

The Australian Open 2023 final is all set to take center stage as Novak Djokovic will have a day with destiny with a 10th title in sight. The 21-time major slam winner will try to become the first player to win the Hard Court event in Australia on 10 occasions and thereby scripting history. Standing in Djokovic’s way will be Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas while history for the Serb as tries to become the greatest Hard Court player of all time.

Is Novak the greatest Hard Court player of all time?

Over the years, the standards were set high by the likes of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer who excelled in their generation. However, the likes of Djokovic (Hard Court) and Rafael Nadal (Clay Court) have scripted their greatness on two different surfaces. If winning one Australian Open title is a hard task, winning it on 10 different occasions takes some doing.

In total, Djokovic has won 21 major slams in his career with 12 of those wins coming on hard court surfaces of the Australian Open and US Open combined. If Djokovic does succeed in winning the Australian Open on Sunday, it will be his 13th Hard Court major slam title. It is also worth reminding that, Djokovic has been runners-up at the US Open on six different occasions. His tally of Hard Court finals is 19 which looks a tally far from anybody else’s reach.

Djokovic’s Grand Slam career on Hard Court

Australian Open                2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021

US Open                             2011, 2015, 2018

                                                 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2021*(runners-up)

Djokovic has never lost Australian Open final

In his nine previous appearances at the Australian Open final, the 35-year-old has never lost and has an impeccable record of nine wins in nine. On the flip side, he is on a winning streak of 27 consecutive matches and a win on Sunday will take that to 28.

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Nadal’s record also on the cards

If Djokovic does go all the way, he will equal Nadal’s record for most singles Grand Slam titles with 22. Currently, the Spaniard is top of the chart followed by the Serb and Roger Federer with 20 and will look to go level with Nadal.

A win at the Rod Laver Arena for Djokovic will also see him narrow the gap for most Grand Slam titles in the singles division in both men’s and women’s departments. Currently, Australia’s great Margaret Court tops the list with 24 major titles followed b Serena Williams with 23 majors. Nadal is currently level with Steffi Graff with 22 major titles followed by Djokovic and Federer with 21 and 20 majors respectively.