Winner's Circle: Djokovic reigns supreme in Melbourne

This week's edition features the first Grand Slam event of the season, in which a determined Novak Djokovic battled past all opposition to claim his eighth Australian Open title.

Having just triumphed at the inaugural ATP Cup with Team Serbia, Djokovic was on a hot streak. The Serbian had gone undefeated at the event, and looked set to defend his 2019 Australian Open title. He was seeded second in Melbourne, and kicked off his campaign with a 7-6(5) 6-2 2-6 6-1 victory over German Jan-Lennard Struff.

Djokovic faced Japan's Tatsuma Ito in the second round, breezing through 6-1 6-4 6-2 in just an hour and a half. He eased past Ito's compatriot, Yoshihito Nishioka in the third round to set-up a fourth round meeting with Argentine Diego Schwartzman.

The Serbian had won all three career meetings versus Schwartzman, and prevailed 6-3 6-4 6-4 in their fourth round encounter. Looking nearly unstoppable, Djokovic was a definite favorite to take home the title. He next faced Milos Raonic, who was making a comeback from surgery. Djokovic defeated Raonic 6-4 6-3 7-6(1) in a nearly three hour quarterfinal encounter to book his spot in the semifinals.

A very familiar foe awaited the Serbian in the semifinal, as Roger Federer had just pulled off a miraculous escape against Tennys Sandgren in his quarterfinal match. The two clashed in their 50th career meeting, with Djokovic emerging victorious. After a tightly-contested first set, the outcome was never in doubt as Djokovic prevailed 7-6(1) 6-4 6-3 in 2 hours and 18 minutes.

The final saw Djokovic battle Austrian Dominic Thiem, who had recently defeated the Serbian at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals. Additionally, Thiem had toppled Alexander Zverev and top-seeded Rafael Nadal en route to his third Grand Slam final.

The Australian Open tends to deliver classic finals, and this one was no exception. The duo battled in a four-hour encounter that saw Thiem obtain a 2 sets to 1 lead. However, Djokovic's experience saw him fight back, outlasting Thiem 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 to win his 17th Grand Slam title.

With another Major title in his pocket, the 32-year old was improving his case for him regarded as the greatest of all time. Furthermore, this victory saw him succesfully defend his title and rise one spot to once again being No.1 in the world.

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