MELBOURNE/WASHINGTON, February 21, 2021 (by Michael Dickens)
Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek won the Australian Open men’s doubles crown for their for Grand Slam title in their sixth major championship together Sunday afternoon at Melbourne Park.
Dodig of Croatia and Polasek from Slovakia combined to hit 26 winners en route to their 6-3, 6-4 victory over Rajeev Ram of the United States and Joe Salisbury from Great Britain in 88 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Raw emotion 😤
The moment @DodigTennis and Filip Polasek became #AO2021 men’s doubles champions 🏆#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/6ePpqqmaJb
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 21, 2021
“I think today was one of our better matches,” said Dodig during the team’s post-match press conference. “Even though through the whole tournament we played great tennis, every match was better and better. Final was I think one of our better matches through all this one and one-half years we are playing together. That’s most important.
“It’s always very satisfying and we can be happy if we can produce great tennis on most important matches like a Grand Slam final.”
🏆 How sweet it is 🏆@DodigTennis and Filip Polasek hoist a first team #AusOpen men’s doubles title.#AO2021 pic.twitter.com/r1X0FLiaHo
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 21, 2021
Polasek, whose partner, Karin, gave birth to the couple’s second daughter two days ago, added: “Usually, I am the one who is more up and down. Ivan is always the consistent member of the team. … He gets me through the menus when I am not hitting great. But today I picked it up [my returns] from the beginning. I was just trying to keep going as long as possible.”
This is Filip Polasek’s best. Week. Ever.
✅ First Grand Slam title at #AusOpen 🏆
✅ Second daughter was born two days ago 👶 pic.twitter.com/0fzCHvMQpG— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 21, 2021
The victory for Dodig and Polasek was their third tour-level title following earlier successes two years ago in Cincinnati and Beijing.
“I’m proud of the way we competed,” said Ram, who teamed with Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic to win the Australian Open mixed doubles title on Saturday. “They were just a bit too good for us today.”
It’s a first team Grand Slam title for @DodigTennis & Filip Polasek! 👏
They defeat Ram & Salisbury 6-3, 6-4. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/ukgtHxlOid
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 21, 2021
2021 Australian Open attendance breaks 130,000
Attendance on the final day of the 2021 Australian Open was 7,426, bringing this year’s total tournament attendance to 130,374. This year’s tournament included five days in which fans were locked out from attending due to a spike in local COVID-19 cases in Melbourne.
Name a more iconic duo. We’ll wait.@DjokerNole x @RodLaverArena #AO2021 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/EGCkYY1YyF
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 21, 2021
Djokovic – Medvedev: Posing with their trophies
Love to see it 🥰#AusOpen | #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/4diCTtFi3G
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 21, 2021
Sunday’s men’s final was Lacoste vs. Lacoste
Dear Crocodiles, we’re with you on the court. Good luck for the finals, you’ve already won the title in our hearts. #TeamLacoste @atptour pic.twitter.com/kpBMQKrs70
— Lacoste (@LACOSTE) February 19, 2021
Naomi Osaka: On the day after her title triumph
On the day after Naomi Osaka beat Jennifer Brady to capture the Australian Open women’s title, her fourth Grand Slam, the Japanese superstar celebrated her second AO title at a photo shoot at Government House in Melbourne and also visited a mural of herself by local artist Paink at Melbourne Park.
Sunday in the park with Naomi and Daphne: @naomiosaka visits a mural of herself by local artist Paink at Melbourne Park Sunday. That’s the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup she’s holding for winning the 2021 #AusOpen women’s title.
📸 – @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/Kpj1EXFHG1— Michael Dickens (@michaelcdickens) February 21, 2021
By the numbers
18 Grand Slams for Djokovic 🏆
This race is tight… 👀 #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/yd7e8bkPeN
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 21, 2021
What they’re saying
Novak Djokovic, on whether this was the most difficult of the nine Australian Open titles he’s won:
“Each one is different. It’s hard to compare. But it has been definitely emotionally the most challenging Grand Slams that I ever had with everything that was happening, injury, off-the-court stuff, quarantines. It has been, least to say, a roller- coaster ride in the last four weeks.
“Of course, I’m not the only one that has experience that, talking about quarantine. I can’t complain. I mean, I probably had it the best I possibly could have comparing to the other players, some that had to stay 15, 20 days without exiting the room and training.
“A lot of mixed emotions, as I was saying on the court, with the media, tennis players getting here in the midst of pandemic. I mean, a lot of suffering, a lot of sacrifice. At the beginning, we didn’t feel so welcome, judging by what the media was writing about tennis players and being here.
Fallin for Melbourne…
Over and over again 😄#AusOpen | #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/4fftRTzlhT
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 21, 2021
“I think when you draw a line in the end of the day, I think it was a very successful tournament for Tennis Australia, for Australian Open, for Australian country. We all wish to experience more of the tournaments like this in our schedule. It’s going to be highly unlikely that we will see crowds anywhere else except here. Maybe few other places. But the way it looks like, it’s going to keep going for some time.
“So, I’m very thankful that the Australian government and Australians managed to allow crowd to be on the stands. We almost kind of forgotten how that feels.
“So, yeah, I mean, it was very challenging for me to keep my mind serene and keep my focus directed into what matters the most. I mean, I have put a lot of energy and time, along with my team, to be here sitting with a trophy. So, I’ll take a lot of positives out of this month here in Australia and see what’s rest of the season is going to look like.”
Not the match I wanted. All respect to @DjokerNole. Proud of my Aussie summer and can’t wait to be back next year🙏 #workinprogress @AustralianOpen #AustralianOpen2021 pic.twitter.com/lSaM7na2cq
— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) February 21, 2021
What they’re writing
It took @DjokerNole less than two hours to end all talk of a changing of the ATP guard, reassert his #AusOpen dominance, and return tennis to its regularly scheduled programming—the Grand Slam title chase.
From @SteveTignor:https://t.co/c9ZsJkf95D
— TENNIS (@Tennis) February 21, 2021
It’s @DjokerNole and @naomiosaka for the wins. A qualifier reaches the semis. Serena persists. After two weeks of tennis quarantine, 50 Parting Thoughts from the 2021 @AustralianOpen :https://t.co/aKprPRiKZa
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) February 21, 2021
What they’re sharing on social media
Novak Djokovic / Celebrating his ninth AO title
9️⃣❤️❤️❤️ #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/bVDf7ICPYl
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) February 21, 2021
Daniil Medvedev / 🙏🙏 #australianopen2021
— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) February 21, 2021
Rajeev Ram / 2019 –> 2021
2019 2021 pic.twitter.com/I3DkTGVRnl
— Rajeev Ram (@RajeevRam) February 20, 2021
