Tennis has a sparkling new champion who can only enrich the sport. Novak Djokovic seemed like a breath of fresh air when he first emerged on the world scene a couple of years ago and now he is Australian Open champion the pinnacle of the men’s game is no longer just a two-man rivalry but a triumvirate of great riches.

The tournament of course has its controversy: police using mustard spray and inane scheduling that caused matches to finish at ridiculous times in the early morning. For those hopeful of British success, things came to a juddering halt before the sun had set on day one with the disappointing early demise of Andy Murray.

Now the negative moments can be consigned to the back of the memory bank while the abiding thing to remember will be one of the most entertaining finals ever played at Melbourne Park with Djokovic’s intelligence, court craft and sublime skill eventually proving too much for the exhilarating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

As a match it had nearly everything: two supreme young talents with divergent games and an appeal that stimulated the crowd into creating one of the finest atmospheres ever known for a grand-slam final. There was an element of edge as Tsonga correctly complained about the time Djokovic habitually spends between points, stalling his serves with incessant ball bounces. There was also some stunning play with Djokovic working out a way to halt the French steam roller at the opposite end of the court who had pummelled Rafael Nadal in the previous round.

And to round it all off there was the sudden death suspense of the tie-break where Tsonga’s momentous march finally came to an end and Djokovic, who seemed as though he might have injured himself stretching for a low ball just a couple of games previously, proved strong in mind and body.

A night earlier The Police had played a massive concert just across the railway tracks at the MCG and the noise drowned out the applause for the boys singles final won by the precocious 15-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic, who is giving this nation new tennis optimism. But as Djokovic sunk to his knees at the moment of his 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 victory, the crowd roared with approval and Sting was more than happy to lend his voice to the tumultuous appreciation.

It was no more than Djokovic deserved. At times in the final he seemed disorientated by Tsonga’s unrestrained power play and had to regroup to formulate a different approach. The 38th ranked Frenchman clearly posed far more problems to the favourite than the imperious Roger Federer did in the semi-final but it was only a matter of time before Djokovic’s variety and tactical brilliance found a breakthrough.

The pair split the first two sets with the charging Tsonga ending the first in magnificent style, hitting first a crunching forehand and then an audacious lob. He bounded around in sheer delight but Djokovic broke out of his own personal doldrums to harness his opponent’s power and then level the match with an ace.

Djokovic seemed to sense that Tsonga was tiring at the beginning of the third and registered an early break which was never seriously threatened, but the tension mounted as the third seeded Serb required seven set points before finally cementing the upper hand.

Both men were primed for the challenge as the match moved on. Tsonga was rarely anything less than authoritarian on his own serve and until Djokovic required the attention of the trainer to massage his strained left thigh muscle, he moved around the court with lithe grace.

Tsonga’s nerve held as he twice had to serve to stay in the match but the pressure of the tie-break finally caused him to buckle with an errant forehand into the net and then an ill-timed double fault, only his second of the match, giving Djokovic the crucial mini-breaks.

Great champions do not squander great chances and although Djokovic was presented with four match points he only required one as he claimed his title by forcing Tsonga into hitting a final forehand wide. He is a champion who will do credit to tennis and the player he beat will also greatly enhance the top of the game.

So we had an evening of which tennis can be proud and can now look forward to a future that promotes a great sense of optimism.