Joker goes from being villain to king
There was the way it started. And then there was the way it ended.
A month ago, Novak Djokovic managed to turn himself into a tennis villain of sorts, with much of Australia thoroughly annoyed. Basically, Djokovic wasn’t happy with the way organizers were restricting tennis players in their preparations for the Australian Open, making comments that came across as rather tonedeaf in a country that had endured severe pandemic restrictions and been largely successful in its fight against COVID-19.
Djokovic issued a list of demands to local governments. They told him to take a hike. Australian star Nick Kyrgios called Djokovic a “tool.”
Fair enough. Djokovic shut up, played by the same rules as everyone else and still came out on top, shrugging off the pain of a torn oblique muscle to surgically dismantle Daniil Medvedev by an overwhelming 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 score in Sunday’s final in Melbourne. That’s called walking the walk. The world No. 1 captured his 18th Grand Slam triumph with surprising ease in what had been billed as a toss-up by many observers. Medvedev was right there through the first 10 games, winning his serve at love to tie the opening set 5-5. But Djokovic held serve at love himself, then broke the Russian to take the set 7-5.
Medvedev then broke Djokovic in the first game of the second set. After that, however, he won only three more games, making a mockery of predictions that he was poised to win his first major title.
It’s the ninth time Djokovic, 33, has won the Australian Open, which symbolizes the start of the tennis season. He now sits just two Grand Slam victories shy of both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who share the record with 20.
Nadal was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Stefanos Tsitsipas, while Federer skipped the competition. The 39-yearold Swiss is still rehabilitating after two knee surgeries and has not played in more than a year. He has announced plans to return next month at a smaller tournament in Qatar.
“Rafa and Roger inspire me; I’ve said that before and I’ll say it again,” said Djokovic. “I’ll go as long as they go.”
The Big Three, fighting off all the young stars in the game, have won 10 of the last 11 major titles. Only Dominic Thiem has broken through, with a win last year at the U.S. Open.
“I think that’s the very reason why we are who we are, because we do drive each other, we push each other to the limit,” Djokovic said in reference to Nadal and Federer.
For Djokovic, it was a triumphant return to the winner’s circle after he was disqualified from the U.S. Open in September and roundly criticized for accidentally hitting a female line judge in the throat with a ball during a fourthround match. The Serbian star then lost the French Open final to Nadal in straight sets.
In Australia, however, Djokovic is nearly unbeatable. Only Nadal’s 13 wins in Paris beat Djokovic’s nine in Melbourne.
“I guess that makes him the King of Melbourne,” said Medvedev.
Djokovic’s win came after Naomi Osaka won the women’s final on Saturday, and the tournament generated a lot of questions about what’s in store for tennis as the pandemic continues to make it difficult to get back to business as usual.
For Canada, both Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime are still looking to make Grand Slam breakthroughs after disappointing results in Melbourne. Milos Raonic delivered some encouraging performances Down Under in his seemingly endless battle with injuries before being eliminated by Djokovic.
The news is much worse, however, for 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who is again injured and will miss at least the next three tournaments.
Andreescu returned to competition at the Australian Open for the first time in 15 months, but was bounced in the second round. The 20-year-old then entered a secondary event at Melbourne Park and lost in the semifinals to Marie Bouzkova. During that match she apparently suffered a left leg injury, after a left knee injury sidelined her last year.
It was announced Sunday that she will miss events in Qatar and Dubai, after also pulling out of a tournament in Adelaide. Her agent told The Canadian Press she’s focusing on getting into shape for the Miami Open, which starts March 23.
“After coming back from 15 months (off ) and playing long, tough matches, I’m dealing with a lower body issue,” Andreescu said in a statement. “I want to think about the rest of the season.”
Andreescu’s career path has been anything but a consistent upward curve. She came out of nowhere to win the prestigious Indian Wells tournament as a wild-card entry in March of 2019 to start her rise.
Later that summer, she became the first Canadian woman in 50 years to win the Rogers Cup, then defeated the great Serena Williams to capture the U.S. Open.
Since then, Andreescu has played only 12 matches, none in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. It was hoped that when she returned for the Australian Open she would be able to play for an extended period, but that was not the case.
She’s so young that it would be foolish to write her off in any way. She’s still ranked No. 9 in the world. But you’d sure like to see her get more out of the 2021 season than she got out of last year.