Djokovic’s amateur dramatics
IS IT PRESSURE OR PHYSICAL PAIN STANDING IN NOVAK’S WAY?
THREE days, two matches and one stiff neck are what stand between Novak Djokovic and winning the French Open and an 18th Grand Slam.
All eyes will be on the state of his upper body and left arm today when he tackles Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the final. Even more so after the late-night observations of Pablo Carreno Busta on Wednesday, who inferred it was pressure more than any physical pain that ailed the world No 1 in their quarter-final.
‘ Every time the game gets complicated, he asks for medical assistance,’ was just one comment from the Spaniard, who has never been known as a Nick Kyrgiostype provocateur.
Faced first with prodigious Greek talent Tsitsipas, probably followed by Rafael Nadal, 33-yearold Djokovic can hardly afford any serious physical issues between now and Sunday night.
His reputation for amateur dramatics goes before him, although there is circumstantial evidence to back up his claim that, on this occasion, he did genuinely have a problem.
At August’s Cincinnati Open — played in New York prior to the US Open — he pulled out of the doubles because he was experiencing discomfort in his neck. There were also pictures from the afternoon before Wednesday’s match that showed him having treatment on that part of his body.
He would be by no means the first top player to send out confusing signals about their health during the tension-packed f ortnight of a Grand Slam. Adrenaline and self- confidence can have a powerful restorative effect.
Twenty years ago, Pete Sampras won Wimbledon despite having trouble with his shin and limping around between matches which he kept winning.
Andy Murray has been known to stage miraculous recoveries to win matches at the French Open.
In 2012, Virginia Wade famously labelled him a drama queen after he was reduced to serving like a geriatric against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, before storming back to win in four sets, not unlike Djokovic did on Wednesday.
The Serb was coy about details on his neck issue, so it cannot be known exactly what the root of it is.
But any mere mortal knows the neck and shoulders are often storehouses of stress and Djokovic will be carrying around plenty of t hat, especially after what happened in New York when he accidentally struck a line judge with the ball and was disqualified.
This week is a huge opportunity for Djokovic. As John McEnroe pointed out on Eurosport: ‘If he goes through to play Rafa in the final, these conditions are perfect for him.’
The relative cold of October means Nadal’s heavily- spun strokes are not fizzing off the clay as they would do in early summer, measured by Hawk- eye as bouncing nearly four inches lower than usual on average.
That is why it can’t be guaranteed the Spaniard will reach his 13th Roland Garros final when he faces Diego Schwartzman. The mercurial Tsitsipas undoubtedly has a shot too but, when it comes down to it, Djokovic and Nadal usually find a way.
Meanwhile, 19- year- old Iga Swiatek’s decision to put her studies on hold has paid off after reaching her first Grand Slam final, where she will meet Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
Swiatek, who brushed aside Argentinian Nadia Podoroska 6-2 6-1, has lost no more than five games in any encounter. Not only that but she’s also in the semi-finals of the doubles, a rare example of multi-tasking in the modern game.
Kenin denied Petra Kvitova an emotional return to a Major final after the trauma of being attacked by a knifeman at her home in late 2017, the double Wimbledon champion losing 6-4, 7-5.
Swiatek, daughter of a former Polish Olympic oarsman, is ranked only 54 in the world, making her form all the more remarkable.
It will be the first final since 2008 that has featured two players aged 21 or under. For world No 6 Kenin, it represents a remarkable turnaround from the Italian Open that preceded Roland Garros.
In Rome, the American lost 6-0, 6-0 to Holland’s Arantxa Rus, but now she could find herself the winner of two Grand Slams in 2020, having begun this strange year ranked a relatively unheralded No 14 in the world.