Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open dominance is intact _ nine finals, nine championships.

And he keeps gaining on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam standings, now up to 18 overall, two away from the men’s record shared by his two rivals.

Djokovic used superb serving and his usual relentless returning and baseline excellence to grab 11 of 13 games in one stretch and beat a visibly frustrated Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday for a third trophy in a row at Melbourne Park.

The 33-year-old from Serbia improved to 18-0 combined in semifinals and finals on the hard courts of the Australian Open.

Looking at the bigger picture, Djokovic has won six of the last 10 major tournaments and is assured of remaining at No. 1 in the rankings at least through March 8. That will give him 311 weeks in the top spot, breaking a mark held by Federer.

The No. 4-ranked Medvedev was appearing in his second Grand Slam final _ he was the runner-up to Nadal at the 2019 U.S. Open _ but is still left trying collect his first such championship.

Djokovic ended the 25-year-old Russian’s 20-match winning streak. Medvedev also had won his previous 12 matches against Top 10 opponents.

Arsenal and Milan reach Europa League last 16

Arsenal needed a late comeback to secure their place in the draw for the Europa League last 16 where they will be joined by Ajax Amsterdam, Manchester United, Milan and Rangers but Napoli and PSV Eindhoven crashed out on Thursday, February 25.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 87th-minute header secured Arsenal a 3-2 win over Benfica for a 4-3 aggregate victory, but the Premier League side had been staring at the exit door.

After the first leg, played in Rome because of COVID-19 restrictions, ended 1-1, Arsenal’s home leg was played in Athens and all looked comfortable when Aubameyang scored early on.