After Rafael Nadal breezed by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open semifinals, the stunned 20-year-old described Nadal’s game as a “a different dimension of tennis completely.” Nadal had demolished Tsitsipas in straight sets, just like he had demolished each of his five previous opponents in straight sets. What Tsitsipas likely didn’t envision was Nadal, three days later, looking just as overmatched in the Australian Open final. If Tsitsipas was employing two-dimensional tennis on Thursday, then Novak Djokovic played Sunday’s final in four dimensions.
Djokovic needed just two hours and four minutes to annihilate Nadal, drubbing him 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 to win his seventh Australian Open.