MELBOURNE --  Serbia's best tennis player, Novak Đoković, has taken the title in this year's Australian Open.

He beat France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-1 (4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6) in the final in Melbourne this Sunday.

This is the 20-year-old's biggest career win to date, and the first grand slam title in the history of the Serbian tennis.

Đoković started the competition as the third seed.

"First, before I thank everybody in this world, I want to thank everybody in my box, who've supported me all the way through, not just these two weeks, all the way in my life," Đoković said as he was accepting his trophy.

"Second of course Jo. Unbelievable tournament and you should be proud of yourself - if he won tonight it would be absolutely deserved, so well done for his success."

Đokovoć, who CNN reports has had a "hot and cold relationship" with the audience, won them back over again in his post-match speech.

"I know the crowd wanted him to win more," he said of Tsonga. "That's OK, it's all right. I still love you guys, don't worry."

"I'm very, very happy that I won my first Grand Slam here, so hopefully we'll see you here on this stage a lot more often in the future."

Tsonga, ranked 38th, was playing his fifth Grand Slam tournament and had never previously gone beyond the fourth round.

He was aiming to be the first Frenchman in 80 years to win the Australian title and the first to win any of the four Grand Slams since Yannick Noah's win at Roland Garros in 1983.

Instead it was Đoković who made the headlines.

"I am so proud of myself and to be the first Serbian who won the Grand Slam title," he said. "I think it will be a crazy house back in Serbia in my country, I love you guys."

The victory completes an excellent showing from Serbia's top three tennis stars: Ana Ivanović played in the women's finals, while Jelena Janković made it to the semis.

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