One of the most iconic pieces of tennis history is up for auction, and it could set the record for the most expensive racket ever sold.
SCP Auctions is selling a match-used racket from Novak Djokovic's thrilling 2012 Australian Open title run. The final of that tournament is widely considered one of the best matches in history, if not the best.
No. 1-seeded Djokovic bested No. 2-seeded Rafael Nadal in the longest Grand Slam final ever, lasting five hours and 53 minutes. It also remains the longest match in Australian Open history.
The win also marked the second consecutive Grand Slam final in which Djokovic beat Nadal, having defeated the Spaniard just a few months earlier in the U.S. Open.
"It was obvious on the court ... that both of us, physically, we took the last drop of energy that we had from our bodies," Djokovic said in his trophy presentation. "We made history tonight, and unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners.”
The two share what is quite possibly the greatest rivalry in the sport's history, having played 60 times, 10 more than any other men's pair. Djokovic won the all-time series 31-29. The two most recently played in the 2024 Olympics.
This racket is accompanied by a complete photo-match from Resolution Photomatching, which additionally matched it to Djokovic's quarterfinal win against David Ferrer and semifinal victory over Andy Murray, whom he defeated in the 2011 Aussie final. And the HEAD player-exclusive model has been conclusively photo-matched to the championship point.
“We expect this racket to set the all-time record," SCP Auctions president David Kohler told cllct.
The current record for any racket 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-only auction house Prestige Memorabilia.
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Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.