Not the only Djoker in the pack
Novak Djokovic is starting his summer of tennis in Perth.
The tradition is for the world’s best players to venture to Rottnest Island for a selfie with a quokka.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have previously taken comically gleeful happy snaps but this year’s quokkas didn’t seem too keen on Djokovic.
They kept their distance while one of them allegedly sniffed, “More of a Rafa man, myself”.
Good old Djoker, eh?
His ability to polarise opinion extends to the quokka colonies. He can’t even whack on a bucket hat and take photos with a native Australian animal without social media screaming at him that Rafa and Roger did it better.
No matter. The Serb has all he needs. He’s the 10-time Australian Open champion. The king of Melbourne Park and indisputably one of the greatest athletes of all time.
We’re blessed to have the bloke in our backyard for the better part of the next month. A giant of world sport is among us.
Djokovic is one of hundreds of this year’s Australian Open wannabes, might-bes and never-will-bes.
It’s a wild old tournament. It’s stinking hot and then it’s bucketing down.
For now, players are spread across Australia like sunscreen. Djokovic is in Perth for the United Cup, alongside the women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek and the Australia duo of Alex de Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic.
Nadal, the injury crock, and Naomi Osaka, the new mum and mental-health advocate, are launching much-hyped career comebacks at the Brisbane International.
Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber are a couple of past Open champs who join Osaka as new mums who will put bums on seats.