Djokovic Channels His Inner StarChild to Sweep Nadal, Win Aussie Open

Rafael Nadal had the perfect analysis after he returned from Novak Djokovic's woodshed.

The Spaniard was still smarting from the 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 beating he just took in the Australian Open final, and he not only saw what everyone else did, he knew he had no choice but to accept it:

I can't be sad ... today I played against a player [who] was better than me.

 

To put a finer point on Djokovic's dominance, Nadal had cruised through the fortnight without dropping a single set.

That's more than the 31-year-old Serb could say, but when the rubber met the road, dude went celestial.

 

Stats support the hyperbole of Djokovic's dominance ...

• Dude won 40 of 50 first serves;
• He also won 16 of 19 on second attempt;
• He drilled eight aces, and
• Surrendered a mere nine unforced errors.

Not only that, he never allowed Nadal to establish any sorta momentum. Rallies were rare.

 

In 224 matches in majors, Djokovic has lost only five after winning the first set, and this one was no different.

Behold:

 

This is only a rivalry because of their frequent meetings.

In 53 matches, the results stand at Djokovic 28, Nadal 25, but the reality is the early years were lopsided in favor of the clay-court specialist with parity happening in 2013 and 2014 before the dude chasing Roger Federer's record of 20 Slam matches dominated over the last four years.

 

Since then, he's gone 9-2 against Nadal, which includes his 15th Slam title.

The intrigue now is the clay at Roland Garros. If the Spaniard can't stop him there, Djokovic stands a hot chance at quickly closing in on Federer's record.

Especially if he keeps playing like the next phase of human development.