World tennis number one Novak Djokovic breezed to a straight sets victory over Rafael Nadal in Melbourne to win a record seventh Australian Open, and the ruthless nature of his win has got tennis fans talking.
Djokovic never let Nadal back into the game, looking focussed and clinical from the off as the Spanish world number two failed to recover from a nervy opening to go down 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday, losing a Grand Slam final in straight sets for the first time in his illustrious career.
Also on rt.com Djokovic wins record 7th Australian Open title in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 versus Nadal (RECAP)The Serbian's unsparing display provoked some online observers to pity the Spaniard, who looked a shell of his previous form, making a string of unforced errors and finding no reply to Djokovic's dominance.
Everyone's favorite Twitterati exploded into a flurry of memes and gifs galore.
There were those that praised Djokovic's nice guy image, despite the agonizingly apparent ruthless streak that he demonstrated at Melbourne Park. Rumors even circulated that the 31-year-old had given away his shoes to a fan and walked down to the dressing room in just his socks.
Of all the superlatives, most seemed to settle on "superhuman" for Djokovic, who is clearly out on his own at number one, despite having battled back from injury and surgery to climb from number 14 to the summit of world tennis.