Australian Open : Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka Triumph

Novak Djokovic has won his ninth Australian Open title after beating Daniil Medvedev in the final on Sunday, February 21, 2021 at Melbourne Park. Top seed Djokovic won 7-5 6-2 6-2 to claim his 18th Grand Slam. The 33-year-old Serb has never lost a final at Melbourne Park and beating Medvedev is a third triumph in a row. He clinched the title after one hour and 53 minutes. Djokovic's victory leaves him two Grand Slams behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the three-way battle to finish with the most men's titles. Next month Djokovic is guaranteed to reach one of his major career goals by surpassing Federer's record of 310 weeks at world number one. Djokovic's victory comes with the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and players forced into 14-day quarantine on arrival. 

Japanese star, Naomi Osaka, dominated Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-3, to win her second Australian Open title and improve her record in grand slam finals to 4-0.  In doing so she became the first woman since Monica Seles 30 years ago to win her first four grand slam finals, a feat that not even greats like Serena and Venus Williams, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova achieved. With Serena turning 40 this year and having gone four years without a grand slam title, many are calling Osaka the new face of women's tennis. The 23-year-old knocked Serena out of the Australian Open in the semi-finals, a match that some believe will be the American champion's last at Melbourne Park. This marks the second time that Osaka has triumphed at the Australian Open, after she won the women's singles category in 2019. The tennis icon has also won the U.S. Open twice.