Novak Djokovic will walk into the Rod Laver Arena knowing he knows the court like the back of his palm. The world number five has already won the Australian Open title nine times before he faces Stefanos Tsitsipas and the last time he lost a match here was in 2018.
In this piece we look at Djokovic’s previous title wins, the nine times he won the tournament heading into the 2023 edition final. You can also get your latest Djokovic v Tsitsipas predictions and picks for the 2023 Australian Open final here.
2008, beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
This was Djokovic’s first title and he had come into the tournament giving all sorts of warnings about what was to follow. In 2007, the Serb had made the semifinal at both, the French Open and Wimbledon and then topped that with a final appearance at the US Open which meant he came into the as the third seed.
And surely enough, Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2) to lift the trophy for the first time ever.
In the fourth round he had sent Lleyton Hewitt out but one of his better wins came against the defending champion Roger Federer, whom he defeated in the semifinal in straight sets, in what was just his second victory over the Swiss maestro.
A few days later he would be wearing the Australian Open crown for the first time in his career.
2011, beat Andy Murray
Between the first time he won the Australian Open in 2008 and the start of the 2011 edition, Djokovic went on a bit of rut. He was still making the quarterfinals and semifinals of Grand Slam tournaments, and even entered the final of the 2010 US Open – where he lost to Rafael Nadal – but didn’t win another major.
Till 2011 that is, which became one of the three seasons in which he would win three of the four majors.
And the 2011 Australian Open was the first of those three.
For the second time in his career, Djokovic sent the defending champion Federer packing from the tournament in the semifinal en route the title victory. He then routed Murray 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to lift the title.
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2012, beat Rafael Nadal
In what turned out to be one of the best Grand Slam finals of all time, Djokovic successfully defended his title with a five-set win over Rafael Nadal. The match went on for nearly six hours, making it the longest Grand Slam title-decider of all times during the Open era and the longest an Australian Open match had gone for.
Djokovic won 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7 (5) , 7–5 with both players so exhausted by the end of it that they needed chairs to sit during the post-match award ceremony.
Earlier Djokovic had also overcome Andy Murray in the semifinal in another gruelling five-set encounter.
2013, beat Andy Murray
Djokovic made it three Australian Open title wins in a row – the first to do so – and four overall when he came through in another tough final against Andy Murray.
The Serb won the sixth major of his career by overcoming Murray 6–7 (2) , 7–6 (3), 6–3, 6–2 after the Brit had sent Roger Federer out in the semifinals.
Earlier in the tournament, Djokovic was taken to the extreme in the fourth round by Stan Wawrinka, winning the final set 12-10. Wawrinka led Djokovic 6-1, 5-2 in that match before Djokovic made a famous comeback, recovered quickly from the bruising encounter to beat the next two opponents in straight sets and made the final.
2015, beat Andy Murray
After Djokovic lost to Wawrinka in the quarterfinal of the previous edition, he came back strongly to lift the 2015 title to make it his fifth tournament win here. The top-seeded Serb won 7–6 (5) , 6–7 (4), 6–3, 6–0 in the final after he had avenged his previous defeat to Wawrinka by getting past him in the semifinal.
Djokovic had earlier won his first five matches in straight sets before Wawrinka took him to five sets.
2016, beat Andy Murray
Another final against Murray, another victory. This was Djokovic’s sixth title at Australian Open and the fourth time he had packed off Andy Murray in the final. And having gotten the measure of his Brit opponent, Djokovic clinched a straight-set victory this time around, winning 6–1, 7–5, 7–6 (3).
By winning the tournament in 2016, Djokovic levelled out with Roy Emerson’s six title wins at the Australian Open. It was also his 11th Grand Slam title win which made him go level with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver.
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2019, beat Rafael Nadal
After an under-par couple of seasons where Djokovic was knocked out in the second and fourth round respectively, he came back with a roar at the 2018 Wimbledon where he defeated Kevin Anderson to win the title.
He followed it up with the US Open tournament win and filled with confidence, Djokovic routed Rafael Nadal in the final of the 2019 Australian Open. Djokovic won 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, making it his seventh title at Melbourne Park – a record – and 15th Grand Slam title overall.
Djokovic lost two sets in the entire tournament – that came against Denis Shapovalov in the third round and Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round.
2020, beat Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem was making his name on clay before coming into the 2020 edition of the Australian Open where he defeated Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev to make it through to the final.
And in the title-decider, Thiem led Djokovic by two sets to one only for the Serb to complete a comeback win, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was Djokovic’s eighth Australian Open tournament win which was his first after he was down two sets to one in the final.
Having sent Roger Federer packing in the semifinal following his epic Wimbledon 2019 final victory over the same opponent, Djokovic notched up his 17th Grand Slam victory here with the Thiem win.
2021, beat Daniil Medvedev
Having first met Medvedev in a Grand Slam match at the 2019 Australian Open, Djokovic played him again in the final in 2021. And defeated him 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 to make it his ninth title victory.
It was one of those rare competitions in which Djokovic had his worries in few of the rounds. The Serb dropped a set to Frances Tiafoe in the second round, was taken to five sets by Taylor Fritz, and then dropped another to Milos Raonic in the fourth round.
In the quarterfinals, Djokovic needed to come back from being a set down to down Alexander Zverev before finally getting his bearings right in a straight-set win over Aslan Karatsev.