Serbian Novak Djokovic had to call all his gifted talent and determination to see-off crowd favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for his first ever Grand Slam title at a packed Rod Laver Arena on Sunday. The 2008 final was itself somewhat unexpected with hot favourite and top seeded Roger Federer being stopped in his tracks by a resurgent Djokovic and Muhammad Ali look alike Tsonga taking care of the likes of Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet and Mikhail Youzhny on his way to the fairytale journey. By winning at Melbourne Park, Novak Djokovic becomes the first ever Serb to win a tennis Grand Slam, although Monica Seles won three Australian Open titles while competing under the erstwhile Yugoslav flag from 1991-93. As expected, world number three Djokovic received a barrage of immensely powerful Tsonga forehands, backhand and volleys throughout the match, especially in the first set before giving back his own in the next three to win the title 4-6,6-4,6-3,7-6(7-2). The win breaks the sequence of 11 straight majors won by either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal since Marat Safin’s victory at the same tournament in 2005. Yesterday’s final was highly entertaining for the Melbourne crowd with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga enjoying the bulk of the support and one banner inside the arena showed the image of the great American boxer Muhammad Ali with a tennis racket in hand. The first set was exactly like a boxing tussle with both Tsonga and Djokovic belting the tennis balls all round the park. The powerful nature of the game made STARSPORTS commentator Alan Wilkins predicting burst or cracked match balls at the end of the game. Well, that might not have happened but the world of tennis has been provided a clear signal of the emergence of two young talented fighters that would entertain people all round the world in years to come. The final may have been their first ever ATP meeting but hopefully it would not be the last. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came to the Australian open ranked 38th in the world and would now move on to 18th by his runners-up performance. His main aim now would be to remain determined and keep up his consistency, for many a times before players have faded away from the competitive tennis arena after tremendous initial promise. Tsonga has the talent and the frame to succeed on any surface. Coming back to the match itself, 20-year old Djokovic rebounded from the first set setback to win the second and third sets before saving a crucial breakpoint to win the fourth set tiebreaker to become the youngest player since Sweden’s Stefan Edberg beat Mats Wilander in 1985 to win the Australian Open time