Pantomime villain Novak can spoil the Nadal party

IT IS Rafael Nadal’s misfortune that the version of Novak Djokovic he faces today for a place in the Wimbledon final is very different to the one of just a few months ago. Cussed, complaining and in full siege mentality, the Serb cuts an entirely different figure to the one who, only in late March, questioned his own future after a dismal early exit from the Miami Open. Listless, and barely able to land a backhand in the court while playing Frenchman Benoit Paire, Djokovic was unsure afterwards whether he would even turn up for the clay-court season. He has since rediscovered his mojo, thanks to what has come across at times this fortnight as a persecution complex, with claims he has been the victim of various slights. These have ranged from umpires picking up on time and racket-abuse violations to his treatment from the Centre Court crowd when playing Kyle Edmund. The time of his semifinal today (5pm) against Nadal will be earlier, but you wonder if this could be Saturday evening revisited as one of these players is much more popular than the other. During his superb quarter-final win over Juan Martin del Potro on Wednesday — which sadly clashed with England’s semifinal at the World Cup — Nadal leapt into the crowd after trying to retrieve a wide ball. The delighted woman on whom he landed got a kiss on the hand, and it was one example contrasting the crowd’s evident love for the Spaniard with how they have viewed Djokovic. So there is little doubt whose side they will be on, but Nadal is surely going to be handicapped by what Del Potro took out of him in a four-hourand-48-minute battle which finished just before 9pm. While it’s wrong to cast Djokovic as entirely the pantomime villain, he squeezed in another moan after his victory over Kei Nishikori on Wednesday. This was in reference to the forthcoming US Open’s plans to introduce a 25-second shot clock on court for the main draw this year. ‘I don’t like the shot clocks between the points,’ he said. ‘That’s really not nice and not fair.’ At least Nadal is too experienced and hardnosed to be distracted by Djokovic’s deliberate tactic of bouncing the ball interminably before serving it, and he is not above a bit of stalling himself. What cannot be disputed is that the Serb is definitely ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation at the top, so soon after the nadir of Miami. ‘We didn’t expect that much,’ admitted his coach Marian Vajda. ‘I know Novak is a great champion, but he was not sure if he was ready. It would probably be more surprising to all of us if he wins Wimbledon in a way, because he is not ready yet for that.’ Whoever wins between these two alltime greats will be heavily favoured for the title, although neither John Isner nor Kevin Anderson should be taken for granted. This is a match pitting 6ft 10in against 6ft 8in respectively. This has got tiebreaks written all over it, with 284 aces between them so far. It may not be pretty, but if it is decided on who is the better tennis player then Anderson is the one who should prevail.