Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic join a prestigious list of Australian Open winners

One of the most prestigious tennis tournaments of the year has come to a stunning finish. Since 16 January, the Australian Open has seen the best players in the world battle it out for the top spot in the first Grand Slam event of the year.

The final of the 2023 Australian Open ended in three sets, with a Novak Djokovic winning the tie-break against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Serbian tennis player thus conquers his 22nd Grand Slam title, the tenth in Australia. With this victory, he returns to the top step of the ATP rankings.

However, it is the first victory for the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who conquered the 2023 Australian Open with an extraordinary comeback, beating the Kazakh Elena Rybakina in the final. Fresh from her victory at Wimbledon, it seems Sabalenka is well on her way to carving out her place in the history of tennis.

Let's look back on the other men and women who have notched up titles at the Oz Open over the last 20 years.

Swede Thomas Johansson won the tournament only once in 2002. He continues to work in the tennis world as a coach.

André Agassi, nicknamed the 'Kid of Las Vegas' or 'Flipper' for his fast game, won the title four times. In addition to 2003, he also took home the title in 1995, 2000 and 2001.

2004 is the year in which Roger Federer, or 'King Roger' – considered one of the best tennis players of all time – won the Australian Open for the first time. During his career, he would go on to take home six titles at the Oz Open, including 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017 and 2018.

The only Oz Open title for former Number One Marat Safin, the ‘wild’ boy of Russian tennis. After retiring he continued his career as a coach.

2008 was the first year another tennis champion, Novak Djokovic, claimed an Australian Open title. Djokovic has so far managed to win the famous tournament nine times. Alongside 2008, you can also count 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Spaniard Rafael Nadal, current World Number 2 in the ATP rankings, has currently only won the gold in Australia on two occasions: in 2009 and in 2022.

Stanislas Wawrinka, famous for his powerful backhand, has won the Australian Open final back in 2014.

Now we come to the women's list of honors. Jennifer Capriati, considered one of the best tennis players of her generation, won the iconic trophy twice, in 2002 and the previous year in 2001.

2003 is the year of Serena Williams' first victory at the Australian Open. Subsequently, 'The Queen' won it six more times and always thrived at the event. In addition to 2003, Williams also took the top step of the podium in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2017.

Former player and current coach Justine Henin only took gold at this event on one occasion, the 2004 Australian Open.

For former French tennis icon Amelie Mauresmo, there was only one victory at the Australian Open, back in 2006. Even today she is remembered for her incredible one-handed backhand.

Maria Sharapova, one of  tennis' modern greats, got to lift the trophy in 2008. The retired legend was also the only Russian to win this Grand Slam.

Kim Clijsters, a former Belgian tennis player who won first place in 2011, is also on the Australian Open honor's list.

Victoria Azarenka boasts consecutive titles at the Australian Open, both 2012 and 2013. Born in 1989, the Belarusian tennis player has had an incredible career and is a former World Number 1.

Na Li is a former Chinese player who was credited with popularizing the sport in her country. She took out the title in 2014.

Angelique Kerber, the German tennis player with Polish citizenship, got to hoist the trophy in 2016.

Active from 2005 to 2020, the Danish-born player won the title in 2018. Caroline Wozniacki was number one in the world for 71 weeks.

Born in 1997, Naomi Osaka joined the Australian Open titles list first in 2019, and again in 2021.

After winning the 2020 Australian Open, Sofia Kenin reached the fourth position in the world rankings in March 2020.

Despite her young age (25) and after winning the 2022 Australian Open, then World Number 1 Ash Barty decided to leave tennis in sensational fashion with a video message posted on Instagram: "I gave everything I had for this sport, now I want to chase other dreams".