What’s the very first thing you think that of whenever you hear “Novak Djokovic” and “Australian Open”?
Is it the vaccination drama and the international incident that happened last winter that resulted in Djokovic being deported from Down Under?
Or is it the total championship of the nine-time champion on hard court, spanning the lion’s share of his profession with a complete of 21 major titles?
The facts remain unchanged: Djokovic has been held in Australian immigration detention (once) more times in the last 4 years than he lost a match at the Australian Open (21-0).
The 35-year-old Djokovic has won the last three Australian Opens he has been eligible for – here’s a fun fact: the last player to beat him in Melbourne was Chung Hyeon, in the fourth round in 2018 – and he’s in for the favorite (-120, BetMGM ) to take fourth place in a row later this month.
Djokovic confirmed his man-to-beat status last week when he won Adelaide’s warm-up tournament, saving a match point en path to beating rising American Sebastian Korda in the final, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.
And his path to a record-breaking twenty second major was significantly cleared when world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz was forced to withdraw resulting from a hamstring injury.
It’s secure to say that the two opponents more than likely to derail Djokovic at the Australian Open – that’s, now that he has a legal visa – are his famously flammable temper and penchant for secret pains, each of which he also showed in Adelaide.
Djokovic complained after his semi-final victory over Daniil Medvedev of a strained hamstring. And he had a minor breakdown during the final, criticizing coach Goran Ivanisevic and others in his box as he stepped down, insisting that some of his entourage leave the court.
“I would love to thank my team for treating me, for tolerating me in good and bad times,” Djokovic later said. “I’m sure they did not have that much fun going backwards and forwards with them, but I appreciate their presence.”
Recall that in the 11 Majors held since the starting of 2020, Djokovic has five titles, two absences resulting from lack of vaccinations, two losses to Rafael Nadal at the French Open (which is hardly a loss in tennis terms), one loss to Medvedev (2021 US Open Final) and one DQ for an indignant ball that hit the linesman in the throat (2020 US Open).
In the unlikely event that Djokovic loses a match at the Australian Open starting on Monday, the contenders to knock him out could possibly be Medvedev, Nadal, rookie bazooka players Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger Aliassime and Jannik Sinner, and – no it would something – the much more volatile Nick Kyrgios.