Djokovic cool over Mac flak
IF NOVAK DJOKOVIC can rule the six inches between his ears as effectively as he dominated the 78 feet between baselines yesterday, he could get off the psychiatrist’s couch to lift the Wimbledon crown.
While his 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Adam Pavlasek in little more than an hour and a half left no doubts about the sharpness of his game, wider questions assail him.
First, the controversial comments made by John McEnroe. The greying Mac had drawn a parallel between Djokovic and Tiger Woods, whose priapic appetites brought him low from the heights of golf untouchability.
Novak ‘had some off-court issues with the family’, ventured McEnroe. ‘That’s going to throw you. If you’re distracted, you’re not the same.’ Now the hare was running. McEnroe’s observations were put to Djokovic. ‘John has a complete right to say what he wants as anyone does,’ the Serb said, PR politesse oozing from him.
‘Especially John because he has earned that right because of who he is and what he has meant to the sport and still is. He’s very well known for his bold comments and not being politically correct. But I respect everything he says.’
He was asked again, this time whether there was basis in fact in McEnroe’s comments. That brought another fine Djokovic return. ‘I don’t necessarily need to agree with that. But it’s his right.’ A third time, he dodged the question.
Whatever the specifics behind Djokovic’s relative decline, he made light work of Pavlasek, a Czech ranked 136th. Djokovic was momentarily unsettled when umpire Damien Dumusois called a time penalty. He immediately conceded the only break point of the match, and chuntered away.
Ernests Gulbis awaits Djokovic, who has played only two hours 34 minutes in two matches — a brief itinerary due to a mixture of injury to his limping first-round opponent, and the limitations of his second, who at least played on two legs.