“The most amazed I ever was at Australia was 4 years ago” - Brad Gilbert on Novak Djokovic ‘dismantling’ Rafael Nadal & others in 2019

Former player Brad Gilbert recently talked about how Novak Djokovic's wins at the 2019 Australian Open, including his 'dismantling' of Rafael Nadal in the final, left him amazed.

Nadal and Djokovic have forged arguably the greatest rivalry in the history of men's tennis. The two have locked horns on 59 occasions so far, including two Australian Open finals.

The last meeting between them at the Melbourne Major came in the 2019 final. Djokovic made short work of Nadal there, beating him 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to win a record-breaking seventh Australian Open crown.

Brad Gilbert spoke about the 2019 Australian Open while appearing on the podcast Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe.

"Sitting courtside, the most amazed I ever was, at Australia, was like three years ago (four), when Djoker destroyed Nishikori in the quarters, destroyed Lucas Pouille in the semis, and Rafa was playing incredible, he was playing incredible. The dismantling that he (Djokovic) gave Rafa in the final, it's incredible," Gilbert said.

The American further claimed that Djokovic was getting better like fine wine, and also pointed out certain aspects of the Serb's game that showed he was doing better than ever. Gilbert underlined that the World No. 1 was being more aggressive on his forehand and winning a lot of points on his first serve.

"He's a lot like fine wine, he's getting better. This year, I really felt like, from two aspects of his game at 35, that he's doing better than ever. His forehand is bigger, it's harder, and he's being more aggressive on it. His first serve, he wins tons of points with it," Gilbert said.

"So, he can beat you with offense and then all of a sudden, if he needs to, he can still pull back and use his legs. So I feel there is two different ways he can beat you. Good luck beating that guy," he added.

Novak Djokovic is yet to lose a match in 2023

Novak Djokovic posing with the Australian Open trophy

Novak Djokovic has enjoyed a terrific start to the 2023 season, winning all of his 12 matches so far.

The Serb began the year by winning the Adelaide International 1, beating Sebastian Korda 6-7(8), 7-6(3), 6-4 in the final. He followed that up by winning his 10th Australian Open crown, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in the title clash.

With that last win, Djokovic equaled Rafael Nadal's tally of 22 Grand Slams and returned to the top of the ATP rankings.