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He took the trophy after beating the American in the final for the sixth time in succession.
“I’m really happy, I’m really glad,” said Djokovic after beating Nadal in the final of a hard-fought and tense contest. “I think it’s a great win, I think it’s an important win. I love you guys. It’s been a crazy fortnight and I want to thank everybody for me support and my fans.
“I always try to be aggressive in the last game so I think the fans had to take a big risk to support me in the last moment. I really appreciate it and I’m happy to see the result.”
Nadal admitted he had to “reload the batteries” after his defeat to Djokovic, who was serving for the third set when he was broken in less than two hours and 27 minutes.
“I was a bit scared to face him because he is a very strong hitter,” said Nadal. “I was hoping he would play in the last set because he is the favourite for the title. But I didn’t think it’s going to be such a difficult match for him.
“I’m sorry for losing the match, but he played a great match, he is a great player, he is a great champion. So I’m really happy to be the champion, like I always said to be the champion, of course, I was going to try if I’m going to fight or not, but I was really happy to win the match. It’s a really good fight.”
The victory in Melbourne moved Nadal one step closer to his 21 Grand Slam titles, having overtaken Djokovic and Pete Sampras’ record of 22 titles
