Djokovic, Sabalenka triumph in Australian Open warm-up

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Novak Djokovic beat American Sebastian Korda 6-7 (8), 7-6 (3), 6-4 to win the Adelaide International title on Sunday night.

This represents Djokovic's first win in Australia since he was deported from the country in January 2022, and extends the Serbian's winning streak in Australia to 34 matches as he prepares to play for his 10th title at the Australian Open from January 16.

Korda, 22, had a chance to end the streak with a championship point at 6-5 in the second set but was foiled by an overhead smash from Djokovic, who took control of the match in the tiebreak.

Speaking after the match, world No. 5 Djokovic said the tournament in Adelaide was a perfect warm-up event for the first Grand Slam of 2023.

"Five great matches. The last three opponents: Second round, 7-6, 7-6, tough two tiebreaks against Halys, who is playing very well. Then I had Shapovalov, Medvedev and Korda, who is on fire, playing some high-level tennis, striking the ball amazingly," he said.

"I couldn't ask for a better preparation and lead-up to Australian Open."

Earlier on Sunday evening, women's second seed Aryna Sabalenka ended her 20-month WTA title drought by beating Czech teenage qualifier Linda Noskova 6-3, 7-6 (4).

The world No. 5 from Belarus credited a change in mindset to more measured aggression with her run of form after beating the top three-ranked women at last November's WTA Finals.

"I think I'm a different player right now... I think I'm just different," Sabalenka said.

"I'm older. Maybe a little bit smarter, little bit calmer on court. Just a little bit of everything changed."

The second Adelaide International tournament begins on Monday, with 16 of the world's top 20 women competing for the title.

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