The controversial Djokovic celebration that left Nadal's team fuming

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal clearly have the utmost respect for each other, but a controversial act after the 2012 Australian Open final threatened to derail things.

Ahead of their showdown in the 2019 final, British journalist Annabel Croft lifted the lid on a moment after their famous 2012 final that left Nadal’s team fuming.

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In a conversation about American young gun Frances Tiafoe and his now-famous shirtless celebrations, Croft was reminded of a similar act Djokovic produced after the 2012 epic.

After Djokovic outlasted Nadal 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5 in the longest grand slam final in tennis history (five hours and 53 minutes), the Serb proceeded to rip his shirt off and celebrate without it.

But according to Croft, Nadal’s coach and uncle Toni told her it didn’t go down particularly well.

“I do remember being on the plane coming back from Australia after Nadal lost that thriller with Djokovic,” Croft said on Eurosport.

“Uncle Toni said to me on the plane that the team didn’t like it when Djokovic took his shirt off to celebrate that victory in the final.”

Croft didn’t elaborate on why it wasn’t received warmly, but Djokovic appeared to realise his antics were out of line and hasn’t done it since.

The 2012 decider will go down in history as one of the greatest finals of all time, unlike the 2019 version.

Nadal was handed a humbling for the ages on Sunday night, losing in just two hours and four minutes.

The final score was 6-3 6-2 6-3; the most one-sided Open final since 2003 and Nadal’s first straight sets loss in a grand slam final.

It was Nadal’s fourth-straight loss when he has reached the Australian Open final.

Another defeat and he will match five-times final loser Andy Murray for one of the most unwanted records in tennis.

Nevertheless, he pledged to end that run before the end of his career.

“This tournament has been tough for me in terms of injuries and in times in terms of opponents, like tonight,” he said.

“I’m going to keep fighting, keep practising, keep putting (together) all the things … to give myself better chances in the future.”

with AAP