Novak Djokovic Australian Open dominance equal to Rafael Nadal at French Open – Ivanisevic

Novak Djokovic’s superiority at the Australian Open is similar to the dominance Rafael Nadal’s had at the French Open. That is the view of Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic.

On Sunday, Djokovic will face Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open final.

And the Serbian has his sights on a record-extending eighth title in Melbourne and the 17th Grand Slam of his career.

Victory for the 32-year-old would be his fourth in six years at the Australian Open.

He would also join Nadal and Federer in owning at least eight titles at one Grand Slam event.

But Nadal has 12 titles at Roland Garros with his unprecedented dominance at the clay-court event.

And Ivanisevic believes Djokovic’s love for the conditions in Australia echo those felt by Nadal in Paris.

“This is Novak’s tournament like Rafa with the French Open,” Ivanisevic said.

“Hopefully he is going to be the only one who has won this tournament eight times. He just likes it.

He said: “[There’s] no such thing really as perfection. You try to get as close to that. Last year’s Grand Slam final performance was probably the best Grand Slam final performance I’ve ever had against Rafa, who was in form.

“This year I’ll have a different opponent in the final, so obviously it’s going to be a different matchup, different preparation.

“I’ll prepare myself for that match. Hopefully I’ll be able to perform as well as I always had in the Australian Open finals.”

source: express.co.uk