By DPA
Melbourne : New Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic won’t be lulled into complacency by the first Grand Slam title of his career. The 20-year-old Serb knows that one win over Roger Federer doesn’t mean the end of an era.
“It’s not possible that only one tournament is changing history,” said Djokovic, who defeated Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the title 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in the finals Sunday.
“I played amazing tennis here, so I think I absolutely deserved to win, even against him in the semi-finals.
“But he accepted it in the right way and he’s going to come back in a big style, of course. He’s still planning to be the best player in the world, so we all know how good is he. We’re going to see a lot of him, of course,” Djokovic said.
Djokovic freely admits that he had to stifle his nerves to claim the biggest honour of his young career. “It’s a Grand Slam final and you’re aware of the fact that you’re in the finals. You get nervous a little bit.
“Sometimes in important moments you don’t play the way you would like to play. The difference is if you stay focused in the end.”
The youngster, who will remain on his third ranking behind Federer and Rafael Nadal, now feels even more a member of the ruling elite.
“For everybody who wins a Grand Slam, you have to give them a lot of appreciation and respect. I just felt it now, what it feels like. Hopefully, you know, in the future I’m going to feel it more.”
The winner gave special appreciation to the serve, which saw him through the fortnight.
“It gave me a lot of motivation and a lot of confidence, it was one of the best elements in my game. That’s very encouraging for the upcoming season and for the future, because this is something I’ve been working on a lot lately.
“I’ve been trying to work on my consistence with the serve, first serve percentage, but at the same time placement.
“All these things need time. So I’m pretty surprised with the way I served these two weeks, and I think serve was one of the key factors in my game, even today.”
The child who learned the game in war-torn Serbia said that winning a major had always been a dream. “I was watching a lot of legends in the sport lifting up Grand Slam trophies, so I wished to be in that situation one day. So it’s like a dream come true.
“I always believed I didn’t want to think in a negative way. I always had a big support, especially from my parents, my father. You know, I think he always believed more in me than I did in myself,” Djokovic said.