Photo: François Goglins via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Plant-based tennis star Novak Djokovic has won the Australian Open for a record-extending eighth time. On Sunday, February 2 in Melbourne he came from two sets to one down to beat Dominic Thiem 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 in the final, the official draw records.
It is the Serb's 17th Grand Slam title, and it takes him back to world No. 1, since Rafael Nadal lost in the quarter-finals. He also becomes the first player since Ken Rosewall to win major titles in three different decades. On the way to the final he beat Roger Federer in the semi-finals.
Thiem, the 26-year-old Austrian, had Djokovic in real trouble after taking the second and third sets. Djokovic won the last two to seal it.
After his semi-final win, Djokovic told reporters he was "very pleased to be plant-based and play at this level," adding that people around him had doubted it could work, VegNews reports. For him the reasons go beyond tennis:
It's more than a performance reason for me, it's a lifestyle, it's something I'm really proud of. Hopefully, that community grows even more; hopefully, I can inspire other athletes that it is possible to be plant-based.
He calls it a lifestyle more than just a diet, with ethical reasons as well, and points to the climate impact of farming animals. Djokovic is also one of the executive producers of The Game Changers.
Djokovic is on a roll in Melbourne. Last year he thrashed Nadal to win a record seventh Australian Open, and in July he saved two championship points to beat Federer in the longest Wimbledon final. That came a year after he won Wimbledon and the US Open on his comeback from elbow surgery.
Eight in Melbourne, 17 in all. Powered by plants.