On Sunday, Novak Djokovic climbed to the top of the Australian Open titles list with his seventh Melbourne crown. And if the Serbian continues his record-setting pace, by April, he could surpass his rivals on another leaderboard.

Djokovic won his 52^nd “Big Title” – a combination of Grand Slam, Nitto ATP Finals and ATP Masters 1000 crowns – at Melbourne Park, outplaying Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 for his 15^th Grand Slam crown.

The 31-year-old Djokovic now sits only one Big Title away from tying Roger Federer with 53. Federer, who fell in the fourth round in Australia to Greece’s #NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas, is the all-time leader in Grand Slams won with 20.

But Djokovic’s Big Title strike rate is already better than anyone’s, including Federer’s. The Serbian has won 52 Big Titles from 173 events, giving him a conversion rate of 3.3. Federer has won a Big Title every 4.2 chances (53/223), while Nadal, the all-time ATP Masters 1000 titles leader, narrowly trails Djokovic with a strike rate of 3.5 (50/174).

“I am aware that making history of the sport that I truly love is something special. Of course, it motivates me. Playing Grand Slams, biggest ATP events, is my utmost priority in this season and in seasons to come,” Djokovic said.

“I do want to definitely focus myself on continuing to improve my game and maintaining the overall well-being that I have – mental, physical, emotional – so I would be able to compete at such a high level for the years to come.”

Djokovic’s next opportunity to add more Big Titles will come in March at the BNP Paribas Open, the season’s first Masters 1000 tournament. He is a five-time champion at the event, and if he wins title No. 6, Djokovic will match Federer atop the Big Titles leaderboard.

Federer, however, has his own record of success in Indian Wells, having also won five titles. Following Indian Wells will be the season’s second Masters 1000 event, the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Current and Former Champions’ Big Titles Won (Records Since 1990)

* Becker’s four other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.
** Edberg’s three other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.

RISERS

No. 30 (Career High) Frances Tiafoe, +9
This time last year, Tiafoe had never reached a tour-level quarter-final. But not only has the American done so four times since, also winning his maiden ATP Tour title at Delray Beach, he made the last eight in Melbourne. Tiafoe sprung upsets against fifth seed Kevin Anderson and 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov to earn 360 ATP Ranking points, the most he has gained in a single event in his career. The #NextGenATP star is not only at a career-high No. 30, but he is now also the second-ranked American man.

No. 12 (Career High) Stefanos Tsitsipas, +3
After last year’s Australian Open, Tsitsipas was No. 83 in the ATP Rankings, holding just six tour-level wins. But in the past fortnight, the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion came within one victory of cracking the Top 10 for the first time. The 20-year-old Tsitsipas advanced to his first Grand Slam championship semi-final, upsetting six-time titlist Roger Federer along the way. If last year’s Stockholm winner would have found a way to beat Rafael Nadal in the last four, he would have jumped two more spots in the Rankings.

No. 17 Lucas Pouille, +14
The Frenchman had never won an Australian Open match prior to arriving to the season’s first Grand Slam, and he was also carrying a four-match losing streak overall. It’s safe to say expectations were not as high as they’ve been for Pouille. But no matter. Like Tsitsipas, Pouille battled to his first major semi-final, returning to the Top 20. Even though he lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, Pouille found his form at the perfect time. Last February, the Frenchman triumphed in Montpellier and reached the final in Marseille and Dubai, giving him 700 ATP Ranking points to defend during that stretch.

No. 18 Roberto Bautista Agut, +6
The Spaniard got his season off to the perfect start, lifting the trophy in Doha. And Bautista Agut did not stop there, beating former World No. 1 Andy Murray, in-form Russian Karen Khachanov and 2018 runner-up Marin Cilic en route to his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final. Bautista Agut had previously played in the main draw at 24 majors, making the fourth round nine times. But the 30-year-old finally broke through in Melbourne this year, forcing Tsitsipas into a fourth set before bowing out in the quarter-finals. While the season is young, Bautista Agut is tied for the second-most wins on the ATP Tour thus far at 9-1.

No. 40 (Career High) Taylor Fritz, +10
The other American to qualify for the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals, Fritz, also enjoyed a strong fortnight at the Australian Open. Fritz lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2016-17, but he did not let that happen again this year. The 21-year-old avenged an Auckland defeat against Cameron Norrie, and then ousted former Top 10 player Gael Monfils in the second round. Six-time champion Roger Federer proved too much of a challenge for Fritz, but he gained invaluable experience in his third-round loss against the Swiss that will surely help moving forward. The American then traveled to Newport Beach, California, where he retained his ATP Challenger Tour crown (his fifth overall).  Fritz ascends to a career-high No. 40 in the ATP Rankings, making him the fourth-ranked American man.

No. 44 (Career High) Pierre-Hugues Herbert, +11
It was a strong week in Melbourne in more ways than one for the Frenchman. Herbert cracked the Top 50 in the ATP Rankings for one week last October, but he is now up to a career-high No. 44. The 27-year-old defeated former World No. 11 Sam Querrey and 2018 Australian Open semi-finalist Hyeon Chung to reach the third round in singles at the event for the second time. But that’s not all. Herbert and Nicolas Mahut completed their Career Grand Slam in doubles, battling to the title. The four-time Nitto ATP Finals qualifiers have now lifted the trophy at all four Grand Slams.

FALLERS

No. 6 Roger Federer, -3
The Swiss superstar, who was a two-time defending champion at Melbourne Park, suffered a fourth-round loss to Tsistsipas and with the 2,000 points he was defending, dropped three places to No. 6. It is his lowest position since being No. 6 on 20 March 2017.

No. 29 Kyle Edmund, -15
The 24-year-old, who became the sixth British man in the Open Era to reach the Australian Open semi-finals last year (l. to Cilic), came into the first Grand Slam championship of 2019 with a left knee concern and lost to the experienced Tomas Berdych in the first round.

No. 50 Hyeon Chung, -25
The South Koren, who lifted the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals trophy in 2017, had his ATP Ranking cut in half, dropping out of the Top 30 for the first time in 12 months as a result of falling to Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Australian Open second round.

No. 67 Nick Kyrgios, -15
The former World No. 14, who picked up his fourth ATP Tour trophy at the Brisbane International (d. Harrison) and reached the Australian Open fourth round (l. to Dimitrov) in January 2018, went 1-2 in January 2019, culminating in a Melbourne first-round exit to Milos Raonic in straight sets. In dropping 15 places to No. 67 in the ATP Rankings, it’s his lowest position since 4 August 2014 (No. 80).

No. 75 Tennys Sandgren, -34
Twelve months ago, the American came into the Australian Open at No. 97 in the ATP Rankings, and left as a quarter-finalist – having beaten Top 10 stars Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem – at a career-high No. 55. Sandgren won his first ATP Tour title at the ASB Classic in Auckland (d. Norrie) two weeks ago, moving to a career-high No. 41, but a first-round exit in Melbourne to Yoshito Nishioka saw him drop back to No. 75.

No. 79 Tomas Berdych, -22
The former World No. 4, who missed the last five months of the 2018 season with a back injury, began 2019 by advancing to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final (l. to Bautista Agut) and then fell in the Australian Open fourth round (l. to Nadal). But having reached the 2018 quarter-finals (l. to Federer), the Czech dropped 22 places to No. 79 in the ATP Rankings, his lowest position since 16 August 2004 (No. 79).

Other Notable Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 14 Milos Raonic, +3
No. 16 (Career High) Daniil Medvedev, +3
No. 47 Marton Fucsovics, -9
No. 61 (Career High) Jordan Thompson +11
No. 72 Filip Krajinovic, +21
No. 85 Thomas Fabbiano, +17
No. 93 Ryan Harrison, -10
No. 94 Vasek Pospisil, -20
No. 100 Andrey Rublev, -13

From Melbourne to Disneyland to Newport Beach. Taylor Fritz took quite the unconventional route to lift his fifth ATP Challenger Tour trophy.

Exactly one year ago, the 21-year-old American scored his biggest title yet, capturing the crown in Newport Beach. One year later, Fritz found success once again in Southern California, notching the first successful title defense of his young career.

Located less than an hour from his hometown of Rancho Santa Fe, Fritz feels right at home at the Oracle Challenger Series Newport Beach. He streaked to the title on Sunday, downing Brayden Schnur 7-6(7), 6-4 in one hour and 25 minutes. The American was battle tested throughout the week, clawing from a set down on two occasions, before saving a set point against Schnur en route to the title.

Last year, Fritz left Newport Beach at No. 76 in the ATP Rankings. Now, he has risen to a career-high No. 40 with his latest victory in the California town.

The 21-year-old has kicked off his 2019 campaign in strong fashion, having also reached the quarter-finals at the ATP Tour stop in Auckland and third round at the Australian Open. Fritz upset Gael Monfils in four tight sets in Melbourne, before falling to Roger Federer.

?Newport Beach? Cutest trophy pic in history with my little man? pic.twitter.com/b6K9n7YbS3

— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) January 28, 2019

The American spoke about his victory…

Congrats Taylor. How does it feel to successfully defend a title for the first time?
It feels good, because there’s a lot of pressure that comes with it. To deal with the pressure and come out on top makes it that much sweeter. I just didn’t think about it to be honest. I knew that if I competed hard and played my game, I wouldn’t have to do anything special.

What was the key today against Brayden?
My serve. My serve got me through a lot of tough situations and it closed out the match for me. I knew it was going to be a close match, because he doesn’t have much to lose playing me. I expected him to come out swinging. I just tried to neutralise his serve as much as possible with deep returns. I told myself that it doesn’t really matter how well he serves, as long as I don’t get broken. In the second set, I was able to steal a break and hold my serve through the rest of the match.

You had a long trip from Australia and went right to work here. How did you manage the different conditions?
I needed to play my way into the tournament. Coming off a flight from Australia and straight to playing matches was tough. I’ve been playing with different balls on a different court speed for the past two months, so it was just a lot to get used to. 

I flew out of Australia on Sunday at 1pm and landed here on Sunday at 9am. I didn’t sleep at all on the plane and drove straight to Disneyland because it was my son’s birthday. I was there all day and was dead after. I slept until 1pm on Monday and then I drove here that night. But I only had about 30 minutes of practice before my first match. The wind on Tuesday really messed up my plans before my first match on Wednesday. But I was able to find my way as the week went on.

Being from Southern California, did you have any friends and family come out? How nice is it to play so close to home?
For sure, I had all my friends from school come out. My whole family too – my mom and dad and my wife and son. They all came out. I always play my best at home. In Indian Wells and here to win the title twice, I always do well in Calfornia.

It’s been a great start to the year, also reaching the Auckland quarters and third round at the Australian Open. Talk about the importance of starting the year strong.
It’s really important to start the year strong. I always slow down a bit when the Europe swing comes around, so I need to get as much a lead on everyone now. I usually start the year strong because it’s fast courts in Australia which I like and then the U.S. swing which I play well in. It’s usually a stressful time of year for me, but so far it’s the best start to a season I’ve ever had. I’m just looking to build off it and keep moving forward.

You got a big win over Gael Monfils in Australia and faced Roger Federer too. How important are those matches to see where your game is against the top players?
It’s really important, especially playing three out of five sets. They’re just really mental and physical matches. And against someone like Monfils and Federer, who have played a million best-of-five set matches, it’s really good for me to see that I can come out on top. I wish I could have played better against Roger, but being on the big stages against the best players, I just need more experience with that so I can handle the moment better and play my best tennis.

He did it again! @Taylor_Fritz97 is defending his @OracleChallngrs Newport Beach title with a hard fought 76(6) 64 victory over @BraydenSchnur. Very well done, Taylor! Great final by both players. Great audience. @ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/rgCIJIuWpF

— OracleTennis (@OracleTennis) January 27, 2019

What did you and your team focus on with your preseason training?
I did two weeks of very light hitting, mainly just weightlifting and conditioning. Tons of gym stuff. Our trainer in Orlando, Brent Salazar, is great. Toughest guy I’ve ever worked with. He’s an ex-NFL strength and conditioning coach. So he was absolutely killing us for a couple weeks there. Then I came back to Carson (California) and worked a lot on my serve. Just hitting all the spots and being able to serve anywhere. A lot of movement too. It’s showing, because I feel stronger and faster as well.

Finally, you are up to a career-high of 40 in the ATP Rankings. Did you set any goals for the year? How high can you climb?
I want to be Top 20 by the end of the year. Recently, I’ve seen that a lot of the guys around my age who finished a season around Top 40, would explode into the Top 20. Guys like Medvedev, Khachanov and Coric. I feel like this is a big year for me to rapidly move up the rankings.

1. Djokovic Is A Step Above The Field
Novak Djokovic underwent surgery on his right elbow after last year’s Australian Open, and a return to the top of the sport was no guarantee. Last May, Djokovic’s record for the season sat at 6-6. 

Just eight months later, Djokovic is the clear No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings. On Monday, when the new standings are released, Djokovic will lead World No. 2 Nadal by 2,635 points and World No. 3 Alexander Zverev by 4,480 points. The Serbian has won 36 of his past 39 matches, and 57 of 64 since his 6-6 start to 2018.

And perhaps it wasn’t that he won the tournament in Melbourne, but how he did it. In the semi-finals, Djokovic lost just four games against Lucas Pouille, marking the seventh time in the Open Era that a man had lost four games or less in a Grand Slam semi-final.

Then, with the championship on the line and a legend in Rafael Nadal across the net, the 31-year-old made just nine unforced errors in three sets to clinch a record-breaking seventh victory in Melbourne. It was Nadal’s 25th major final, and never before had the 17-time Slam champion failed to win a set.

“Twelve months ago it was highly unlikely I would be holding three Slams,” said Djokovic, who also triumphed at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2018. “I just have to be conscious of that and understand that I’m blessed.”

2. Nadal’s Injury Lay-off Didn’t Affect His Form
Nobody expected Djokovic to defeat Nadal in straight sets in the final, and that result does not take away from the Spaniard’s efforts this fortnight. After all, when he arrived at the Australian Open, Nadal had not played a tour-level match since retiring in last year’s US Open semi-finals against Juan Martin del Potro.

You would not have been able to tell that Nadal missed four months by watching him bulldoze his way through the bottom half of the draw. The World No. 2 did not drop a set en route to the final, the seventh time he has done so at a major.

And most importantly, Nadal looks fit and ready for another strong season on the ATP Tour. He holds a 116-15 record since the start of the 2017 Australian Open, so a loss against Djokovic won’t dim his spirits.

“I had a great two weeks, being honest, I can’t be sad,” Nadal said. “I played against a player that today was better than me. There’s no doubt about that. That’s all.”

3. Tsitsipas, Tiafoe Lead #NextGenATP Charge
There were a lot of firsts at this Australian Open for the #NextGenATP, with some of the world’s leading 21-and-under players leaving their marks at Melbourne Park. Leading the way was reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who advanced to his maiden major semi-final.

This time last year, the Greek had just six tour-level wins to his name. But Tsitsipas stunned Roger Federer in the fourth round and backed that up with an impressive four-set victory against in-form Doha titlist Roberto Bautista Agut before falling short against Nadal. On Monday, Tsitsipas will climb to a career-high No. 12 in the ATP Rankings, 52 weeks on from sitting at No. 83.

Frances Tiafoe also made his biggest breakthrough yet, battling to his first Slam quarter-final. In his first 11 Grand Slam appearances, the American reached the third round just once. So beating fifth seed Kevin Anderson and 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov en route to the last eight was impressive.

#NextGenATP Aussies Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin thrilled their home crowd with runs to the third round, and Canadian Denis Shapovalov took one of the two sets Djokovic lost in the event.

4. Pouille, With Mauresmo In His Corner, Making A Push
Entering the Australian Open, Pouille had lost four tour-level matches in a row. Less than a year after cracking the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time, Pouille was the 28th seed in Melbourne.

But with new coach Amelie Mauresmo by his side, Pouille went on a memorable run to the semi-finals, where eventual champion Djokovic stopped him in three sets. Two especially impressive wins came against 11th seed Borna Coric and former World No. 3 Milos Raonic.

Pouille had lost all three of his FedEx ATP Head2Head clashes against Raonic heading into their quarter-final. In fact, the Frenchman had not won a set in any of those meetings. But he jumped to a two-set lead and battled past the Canadian in four sets to make his maiden major semi-final.

“I’m very happy the way I played and with the way I got into this tournament, this beginning of the year,” Pouille said. “I think it was the best start possible. It gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year.”

5. Herbert/Mahut Make History
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut arrived in Melbourne with an opportunity to complete their career Grand Slam. The Frenchmen had triumphed as a team at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. But an Australian Open trophy was still missing from their trophy cases.

After battling through three-setters in the second and third round, Herbert and Mahut found their stride, winning their final eight sets of the tournament to capture glory on Rod Laver Arena, ultimately defeating two-time Nitto ATP Finals winners Henri Kontinen and John Peers.

“We knew when we won Roland Garros [last year] that [the Australian Open] was the one missing, so for sure it added maybe a special motivation when entering to this tournament. After, it’s always tricky because when you want something, you have to make the good decisions and to be in the good state of mind to be good on court,” Herbert said. “I think we wanted it, but we also wanted to be good on court in each match and we focused on the game, and that’s why maybe today we could achieve what we achieved here at the Australian Open.”