Djokovic Crowned Australian Open Champion

For the first time in three years, there was no Roger Federer and no Rafael Nadal for the final of a grand slam tournament.

Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga battled today for the first grand slam title of the season, the 2008 Australian Open.

Tsonga looked a bit less nervous than his opponent early in the match. He managed to break Djokovic's serve and held on to his lead. But the first set won by the Frenchmen was the wake up call for Djokovic, who had not lost a single set in the tournament until that point.

From the second half of the second set, Djokovic found his A-game and started to dominate the play. Djokovic won the second, third and fourth set on his way to a first grand slam title in his career. The match ended in the tie-breaker of the fourth set, leaving Djokovic victorious by 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and 7-6 (7-2).

Tsonga, who was ranked 38th in the world before the beginning of the tournament will see his rank improve all the way to the 18th spot. His great run in this Open propels him towards tennis stardom.

Let's not forget that it was only the 5th grand slam tournament of his career. There are probably many more great moments ahead of him. Tsonga congratulated the winner and thanked him for the hard battle.

For Djokovic, a first grand slam title is a first step towards his confessed wish to be ranked No.1 in the world someday. To win the title, Djokovic defeated the actual No. 1 player in the world. He will need a couple more wins over Federer to get to the No. 1 rank.

Djokovic does not improve his world rank, remaining at No. 3 in the world.

Congratulations Novak.

(Picture: Novak Djokovic, Getty images.)