Melbourne, Jan 29 (UNI) Serbian star tennis player Novak Djokovic on Sunday defeated Greek professional tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas and won his 10th Australian Open title at the eponymous tournament after being barred from taking part in the 2022 championship.
The Australian Open is taking place in Melbourne from January 8-29.
Djokovic won 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) and received his 22nd Grand Slam men's singles title. The tennis match lasted for 2 hours 56 minutes.
The Serbian athlete has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 a record seven times.
Djokovic did not participate in the 2022 Australian Open due to a ban to enter Australia after being deported for breaking the national COVID-19 regulations.
Last year, Djokovic arrived in Australia on January 5 to take part in the Australia Open tennis tournament. On January 6, he was detained and put into a migration isolation ward after the Australian authorities canceled his visa. Djokovic was accused of skirting COVID-19 rules that require all tennis players to present proof of vaccination or a medical exemption, while his lawyers argued that he had been granted an exemption after being cured from the disease in December.
Four days later, the tennis player was released by a court order from the isolation ward. On January 10, Djokovic's visa was reinstated by the federal district court in Melbourne, but the next day, Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke revoked the player's visa for the second time, after which the tennis star skipped the tournament and left the country.
UNI/SPUTNIK GNK