Brad Gilbert recalls Djokovic's exceptional form at the 2019 Australian Open - "The dismantling that he gave Rafa in the final, it's incredible!"

Former player Brad Gilbert has said that Novak Djokovic's wins at the 2019 Australian Open, including his dismantling of Rafael Nadal in the final, left him amazed.

Nadal and Djokovic have forged arguably the most formidable rivalry in the history of men's tennis. The two have locked horns on 59 occasions so far, including two Australian Open finals.

The last meeting between them at the Melbourne Major came in the 2019 final where Djokovic made short work of Nadal, beating him 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to win a record-breaking seventh Australian Open crown.

Brad Gilbert spoke about the 2019 Australian Open while appearing on the podcast Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe.

"Sitting courtside, the most amazed I ever was, at Australia, was like three years ago (four), when Djoker destroyed Nishikori in the quarters, destroyed Lucas Pouille in the semis, and Rafa was playing incredible, he was playing incredible," said Gilbert. "The dismantling that he (Djokovic) gave Rafa in the final, it's incredible."

The American noted that Djokovic was getting better like fine wine and also pointed out certain aspects of the Serb's game that showed he was doing better than ever. He underlined that the World No. 1 was more aggressive on his forehand and won a lot of points on his first serve.

"He's a lot like fine wine, he's getting better," he added. "This year, I really felt like, from two aspects of his game at 35, that he's doing better than ever. His forehand is bigger, it's harder, and he's being more aggressive on it. His first serve, he wins tons of points with it.

"So, he can beat you with offense and then all of a sudden, if he needs to, he can still pull back and use his legs. So I feel there is two different ways he can beat you. Good luck beating that guy."