Djokovic flawless in win Down Under

MELBOURNE, Australia

Novak Djokovic was so good, so relentless, so flawless, that Rafael Nadal never stood a chance.

Djokovic reduced one of the greats of the game to merely another outclassed opponent — just a guy, really — and one so out of sorts that Nadal even whiffed on one of his famous forehands entirely.

In a breathtakingly mistake-free performance that yielded a remarkably lopsided result, the No. 1-ranked Djokovic overwhelmed Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday to win a record seventh Australian Open championship and a third consecutive Grand Slam title, raising his count to 15 overall.

“Under the circumstances,” Djokovic said, “it was truly a perfect match.”

No one who saw it would disagree.

Djokovic’s coach, Marian Vajda, said: “I would describe it as dominance.”

Nadal’s take? “An amazing level of tennis.”

“Unbelievable,” said Nadal’s coach, Carlos Moya. “Novak probably could have won, no matter who the opponent was.”

That Djokovic would produce 34 winners and only nine unforced errors was impressive enough.

That it came against Nadal — who is ranked No. 2, owns 17 major trophies himself and hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament — was hard to comprehend.