Novak Djokovic spoke to the media for 17 minutes late on Friday, an output of just under 2000 words, an extraordinary volume. Immediately afterwards he did something similar with the Serbian press.
There was fresh content, his dad and the Russian flag latest, but the bulk of the questioning was regurgitated older uncertainties.
Tennis talk didn’t really get a look-in, a few platitudes on Stefanos Tsitsipas from the great man – “in great shape, in great form” – but that was it. Nothing ventured, nothing learned.
A few hours before, Tsitsipas had given one of the dullest press calls ever. He’s confident, optimistic he said, and tennis has helped put Greece and Serbia, small countries, on the map.
So it was left to Djokovic to sell the singles final indirectly, and, which he did quite brilliantly.
The Emperor’s ear
Tellingly he brought up the constant pressures he is under, immense and smothering but yet he surrounds himself with publicly unsmiling people.
Head coach Goran Ivanisevic is rarely a beacon of light and nor was a previous coach, the impugned and imprisoned Boris Becker. His long-term coach, Marian Vajda, never came across as the happy-clappy type either. Then there’s Srdjan, the PR-disaster dad.
Who does Djokovic speak to as a release from his bubble? He talks of winning and losing as a team, but how is he counselled? We don’t really know. Frank advice to an emperor has never come with the longest of job securities.
The week’s tribulations around his father have “got to me”, he admitted.
“It’s not pleasant for me to go through this with all the things that I had to deal with last year and this year in Australia. It’s not something that I want or need. I hope that people will let it be and we can focus on tennis.”
He talked also about personal demons and how tennis can be a metaphor for life.
“It’s not an ideal situation or circumstances to be in when you have to kind of deal with all these other outside factors that are not really necessary during such an important event. But it’s been part of my life.
‘I’m able to switch off’
“Unfortunately last few years more so. I just try to evolve from it, I try to become more resilient. I feel like I’m strong enough to know what I need to do. I’m able to switch off.”
It is these pressures that offer Tsitsipas his best chance. He is No.4 in the world and will become No.1 should he win late on Sunday.
Tennis-wise he is very, very good. Tennis-wise, he also doesn’t have a prayer against Novak.
Every time there has been even a hint that Djokovic might be unnerved on court this past fortnight he has regrouped, retaliated and flattened the opposition, a wipeout.
Take Tommy Paul, for instance.
Five games to one down in the first set in Friday’s semi-final, the American managed to break back to 5-5 and was pumped, his power and net play starting to unsettle.
But as the tie-break loomed, Novak stepped up to win the set 7-5 and followed it up with a second set trouncing 6-1. Match over, a masterclass.
Nothing gets to him, it seems. Rather than succumb to the hamstring injury sustained in Adelaide, Djokovic has adapted his game. The elastic, rubber man act – a fundamental part of his game where he does the splits to react a wide ball – has not really been seen, but such a lessened defence has not hampered him.
If a turbocharged Tommy can’t beat Novak, then who can? Clearly only Tsitsipas remains, and while he comes with a nationalistic hubris, the expectations are lower than with Novak.
On Friday afternoon Garden Square, 100 metres away from Rod Laver Arena, was packed with blue and white bedecked Greek fans backing their hero, borderline heady.
Capacity crowd, maximum passion
A few hours later the same space was filled several hundred Serbian fans cheering for the television cameras, many were children and nearly all were clad in the football shirt of the Serbian national football team.
Which party takes over the square on Sunday night will be front of mind for Tennis Australia and Victoria Police. Friday’s attendance at Melbourne Park was 49,000, a record, and many will be back tonight.
“The Serbs and Greeks historically get along very well. I just don’t think there’s going to be any conflict on and off the court in terms of the crowd,” said the diplomat Djokovic.
Well, can Tsitsipas do it?
It is both crass and apt to label him a Greek God but it is beyond debate that he is chiselled in a manner the ancient warriors would have recognised and approved of.
He is 24 years old, uber stylish and, at 193cm, deceptively tall. This is a seriously talented athlete and tennis player and a good guy.
He has played Djokovic 12 times and Tsitsipas has won twice, the last time in China in 2019. He was, memorably, two sets up against Djokovic in the 2021 French Open final but blew it as the Serb stormed back to win.
This AO has been under the radar for Tsitsipas save for his fourth-round clash against Jannik Sinner when he was two sets down and looked a goner before pulling himself around. Sinner did not play badly, this was a Tsitsipas revival borne of good play and belief.
This year he has a rather well-known Aussie of Greek heritage in his box, Mark Philippoussis, who hooked up after last year’s Wimbledon, largely to defuse the ever-bubbling tension between Stefanos and his dad and coach, Apostolos. It has helped, but tonight is a whole new domain.
Tsitsipas will need to play the match of his life and will have Greek and neutral support with him. He is without question good enough to win a major title in most eras, but with Roger, Rafa and Novak, this is not a typical decade or two.
Tsitsipas’ hope
He has to hope that external pressures and expectation bear down on Djokovic, that fatigue (he has been in Australia for more than a month) plays its part, that the Serb is indeed carrying a hamstring or other restrictive injury.
Quite simply, he has to hope that Djokovic cracks.
Has there ever been a more harangued athlete at Melbourne Park?
Ever since arriving in Adelaide on December 27 – heart pounding as he approached Customs, he said – he has spoken to the media and public regularly but simultaneously kept his own counsel.
He is the most remarkable athlete and man and hates deeply that he is not adored as Roger and Rafa are, that they are consistently lauded and ranked above him in public estimation.
If he wins tonight he will hold 10 Australian and 22 major – grand slam – titles, level with Rafa and two ahead of Roger and there will be a vindication of sorts.
He has come to Australia with the most single minded campaign and aim – possibly of any tennis player ever – to win the Australian Open. He won five matches and a title in Adelaide and is now just one win short of the big one.
Aussies, Serbs and Greeks await. It promises to be some night.
