Novak Djokovic of Belgrade, Serbia, and Naomi Osaka of Osaka, Japan, won the men’s singles draw and women’s singles draw respectively at the 2021 Australian Open. Osaka, the third seed, defeated 22nd-ranked Jennifer Brady of the United States in the women’s final on Saturday by a score of 6-4, 6-3, and Djokovic, the first seed, defeated Daniil Medvedev of Russia, the fourth seed, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in the men’s final.
Djokovic won his ninth career Australian Open, and it was the second time he won three straight Australian Open titles. Djokovic previously won in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2020. He has now won 18 grand slam men’s singles titles overall. The only two players who have won more men’s grand slam finals than Djokovic are Roger Federer of Switzerland, and Rafael Nadal of Spain, who have 20 grand slam titles each.
On Sunday, Djokovic had a significant advantage over Medvedev when it came to the percentage of points won on the second serve. Djokovic won 63% of his second serve points, while Medvedev won only 39% of his second serve points.
Medvedev seemed rather impatient throughout the contest, and started to rush things when he fell behind. Djokovic had seven breaks of serve, compared to only two for Medvedev.
Osaka, who won her fourth grand slam title, and beat Brady in straight sets in a match that took place in just one hour and 17 minutes. Like the men’s final, the serve was a big difference in the women’s final. Brady had four double faults at key times, and only had two aces. Osaka had six aces compared to only two double faults.
This was Brady’s first grand slam final, and her inexperience showed. Osaka showed more poise and was in control. A big turning point in the match came in the latter stages of the first set and early stages of the second set. Here, Osaka won six straight points, including three games where Osaka broke Brady.
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