One of the most iconic pieces in tennis history is up for auction and could set the record for the most expensive racket ever sold.
SCP Auctions is selling a pre-owned racquet from Novak Djokovic’s thrilling title run at the 2012 Australian Open. The final of that tournament is widely considered one of, if not the best matches in history.
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Djokovic, the No. 1 seed, beat No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in the longest Grand Slam final of all time, lasting five hours and 53 minutes. It also remains the longest match in Australian Open history.
The victory also marked the second consecutive Grand Slam final in which Djokovic defeated Nadal, having beaten the Spaniard a few months earlier at the US Open.
“It was obvious on the court… that both of us, physically, we were taking every last drop of energy we had from our bodies,” Djokovic said during the trophy presentation. “We made history tonight and unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners.”
The two men share what is probably the greatest rivalry in the history of the sport, having played 60 times, 10 more than any other men’s pair. Djokovic won the all-time series 31-29. The two recently competed in the 2024 Olympics.
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This racket comes with a full match photo from Resolution Photomatching, who also compared it to Djokovic’s quarter-final win over David Ferrer and semi-final win over Andy Murray, who he beat in the 2011 Australian final. And the HEAD player-exclusive model has been perfectly matched to the championship point.
“We expect this racket to set an all-time record,” SCP Auctions President David Kohler told cllct.
The current record, all rackets combined, belongs to Carlos Alcaraz. His Babolat racket from his first Wimbledon title, a victory over Djokovic in 2023, sold in October for $173,066 at tennis-specialty auction house Prestige Memorabilia.
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Matt Liberman is a journalist and video producer for clctthe first collectible culture company.
