The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Don’t write off Djokovic’s threat
Tennis: Murray now favourite for Australian Open but wary of claims of Serb’s demise
Reports of Novak Djokovic’s demise have been greatly exaggerated as far as Andy Murray is concerned.
The Serb’s surprise secondround exit from the Australian Open on Thursday was still reverberating around the tournament yesterday as Murray found himself thrust into the position of tournament favourite.
Djokovic’s surprise loss to Uzbek Denis Istomin, a wildcard entrant, has put Murray in pole position to win his first title in Melbourne and the Scot showed little sign of feeling the strain as he comfortably saw off the challenge of American Sam Querrey in straight sets yesterday to book his place in the fourth round.
The 29-year-old Djokovic’s dip in form since winning his fourth grand slam in a row at the French Open last year shows no sign of easing following a third round defeat at Wimbledon to Querrey and a first round loss to Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro at the Olympics.
Djokovic rallied to reach the final at the US Open in September, but was outplayed by Swiss Stan Wawrinka.
Murray has capitalised on his rival’s fall and knows he is now the man to beat in Australia, but does not subscribe to the theory Djokovic, the man he usurped as world number one at the end of 2016, is on the wane.
Asked why he thought Djokovic was struggling, Murray said: “He might be struggling by the highest standards, but compared with most players, it’s not been that bad really.
“I think for him the early loss at Wimbledon and here would be disappointing. He’d want to play his best in the majors.
“But he still won the Masters Series in Canada. He was in the final at the US Open. He was in the finals of the Tour Finals. He beat four or five top-10 players in the Tour Finals. He won the tournament in Doha last week.
“He has played some really good tennis over the last six or seven months. It’s just not been as consistent as what it was the three years before.
“But how anyone is expected to keep up that level for their whole career, it’s just unreasonable to expect that of any player.”
Murray’s 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win against Querrey came with little complication as the world number one’s speed and precision proved too strong for the American’s big-hitting game.
Murray will play Germany’s Mischa Zverev tomorrow, but the Scot insists he is not feeling any extra pressure as a result of his rival’s defeat.
He said: “It doesn’t change anything unless I was to potentially reach the final because I can’t play Novak in the fourth round or in the third round.
“I don’t worry about that really.”