It felt like a full-circle occasion as Novak Djokovic celebrated on Sunday in the same city where he had been deported on a Sunday little more than a year ago.

And on Monday, a triumphant Djokovic paraded the Australian Open trophy — his “guiding star” — around the gardens of Melbourne’s Government House, his 10th title having added another notch in the plus column for those who like epithets such as the Greatest Of All Time.

That debate may never be settled but if it is to be decided purely in terms of major championship success, it now moves on to the French Open, beginning in end-May, with Djokovic, 35, and Rafael Nadal tied on 22 titles.

While the blue courts of Melbourne Park are undoubtedly Djokovic’s domain, the red clay courts of Roland Garros are the preserve of Spaniard Nadal, the other open-era contender for the tag of greatest men’s tennis player along with 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.

Federer, 41, is now retired and sent his congratulations to Djokovic on Instagram — “Incredible effort, again!”.

Nadal, 36, no doubt remains a threat when healthy but is out of action again for at least several weeks, this time with the hip injury that contributed to his losing in the second round in Melbourne to Mackenzie McDonald.

Nadal, undergoing treatment in Spain, is confident he will recover in time to drag his battered body to Paris in May in a bid for a 15th French Open title.

And however full circle it all felt in Melbourne on Sunday night, Djokovic, despite a hamstring issue that hindered him throughout the year’s first Grand Slam, is hardly done searching for more titles, more ways to win and grab a 23rd major. Even if his opposition to Covid-19 vaccines keeps him out of the US Open for a second year running.

“I think there’s still a lot of that fire inside of me that is burning of passion for the sport and for competition and I think that’s what allows me to still push myself to the limit,” he said on Monday. “In the practice sessions, day in, day out after so many years to go through the same routines, repetitively, that sometimes is not so interesting.”

“But I know that there is always a greater goal and a guiding star, so to say, and this trophy is one of those guiding stars, it’s something that I always strive to achieve.”

“I still have lots of motivation; let’s see how far it takes me,” he said. “I don’t know how many more years I’m going to play or how many more Slams I’m going to play. It depends on various things. It doesn’t depend only on my body.

“I think it’s extremely important for me to first have the support and love from the close ones and the ability to go and play and keep the balance with the private life. But at the same time have the mental clarity or — how should I say — aspirations to really strive to chase these trophies. Physically I can keep myself fit. Of course, 35 is not 25, even though I want to believe it is. But I still feel there is time ahead of me.”

While the resilience shown by Djokovic and Nadal means men’s tennis can continue to enjoy the back end of the most glittering of golden eras, women’s tennis continues with its first season trying to fill the void left by Serena Williams.

The American, when fit, dominated the women’s game for the best part of two decades while hoovering up 23 Grand Slam singles titles — a tally only bettered by Australian Margaret Court (24) mostly in the amateur era.

Sunday will surely occupy a category apart. Not for the final itself — a relatively straightforward 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas — but for all that led to it and how Djokovic reacted.

The Serb had returned to Australia with some trepidation, unsure of what sort of reception awaited a year after he was deported for not being vaccinated against Covid. He dealt with a sore left hamstring, and was fine, dropping one set along the way to the title. He was bothered by the unusual circumstances that kept his father — who had last attended the Australian Open 15 years ago — away from Rod Laver Arena for Djokovic’s semi-final and final, but had been able to keep it all bottled up.

Well, able to bottle all of that up, anyway, until the last point was played. That’s when Djokovic “emotionally collapsed,” as he put it, sobbing in the stadium.

“It required an enormous mental energy, really, to stay present, to stay focused, to take things day by day,” he said, wearing a white zippered jacket with “22” printed on the chest, “and really see how far I can go.”

“He’s keeping everything inside,” Goran Ivanisevic, his coach, said. “Sometimes you have to explode.”

“Novak is a player that pushes you to your limits,” is the way Tsitsipas explained it. He would know. He haslost 10 consecutive matches toDjokovic, two in Grand Slamfinals.

“I don’t see this as a curse. I don’t see this as something, like, annoying,” Tsitsipas continued. “This is very good for the sport — to have competitors like him, to have champions like him.”

Ivanisevic said “97 percent” of players would have withdrawn from the tournament if they had received magnetic resonance imaging test results that looked like Djokovic’s.

“But not him; he is from outer space,” said Ivanisevic, pointing a finger to his temple. “His brain is working different.”

Djokovic, who said he would have withdrawn if this were not a Grand Slam tournament, said he did not practise on any of the off days. “A lot of people doubted and still doubt that I was injured,” he said, explaining that he would provide evidence at some stage. “But again, I don’t feel I need to prove anything to anyone. But it did affect me.”

Written with inputs from New York Times News Service, Reuters & AP/PTI