Novak Djokovic edges ever closer to a near-faultless season.
Were it not for the bounce of a ball here or there at Wimbledon, not to mention the brilliance of Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic would be on the brink of perfection in 2023.
He has won three of the four Grand Slams, the ATP Finals with some ease and has his sights firmly set on spearheading Serbia to Davis Cup glory. Such is his record in the team format, he last lost in the Davis Cup 12 years ago.
His downing of Cameron Norrie and Great Britain on Thursday was archetypal of the 36-year-old this season. His serving was impeccable - he dropped just three points on serve in the opening set - and his ability to find all corners of the court left Norrie scampering in vain in a 6-4, 6-4 loss.
Yet, the British No1 should come away buoyed by the result, having been one of the few players to have pushed Djokovic of late, as he did for large chunks of the match.
The world No1 used the noise of a very partisan British crowd, of whom 5,000 had bought tickets to the quarter-final here, to good effect. He cupped his ear and blew sarcastic kisses to one pocket of fans at the end of the first set - and in his post-match interview reacted angrily as one group of supporters continued banging drums and making noise.
“Learn how to respect players, learn how to respect people. You shut up, you be quiet,” he said. It was hardly a sour note to another masterclass from the greatest player of all time.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “You know, in Davis Cup it’s normal that sometimes fans step over the line, but you react in the heat of the moment, you react, too, and you show that you don’t allow this kind of behaviour.
“They were purposely starting to play the drums so that I don’t talk and they were trying to annoy me the entire match.”
If Djokovic was riled, he certainly did not let it show in his game, at points playing near-faultless tennis, as has been the case for much of 2023.
Admitting so himself, he said: “I have been playing some of the best tennis I have ever played and feeling confident, riding on this crest of confidence. Being there on the court for my country is always extra push, extra motivation.”
For Britain, the task was always a simple one. No disrespect to Norrie, but the expectation was always a loss in the second singles match, which made it imperative that Jack Draper won the opener against Miomir Kecmanovic.
"Learn how to respect players, learn how to respect people. You shut up, you be quiet"
In only his second Davis Cup singles rubber, Draper came up short 7-6, 7-6 to effectively send Britain packing from Spain once the Djokovic masterclass made it official.
Big-serving lefty Draper will likely be the next player to spearhead ambitions in the team format in the years to come. There were the notable absences of Andy Murray and Dan Evans but, even with both of them in the line-up, Draper would, arguably, still have got the nod to play the singles as the form British player at this point in the season.
The team and the LTA will take stock of what they could have done differently, but Draper was quick to back captain Leon Smith to stay on in the role for the foreseeable future.
“Leon is excellent,” he said. “He does an amazing job keeping all the players happy. He gets the best out of the players.
"Other nations don’t often get all their best players, because maybe there is something wrong with the team, but he creates an amazing environment. We all want to play for him, all want to work hard. He only is positive around us.”
A British inquest into this Davis Cup should be relatively short-lived. They did well to win away in Bogota and impressed in the ties in Manchester which booked their ticket to the Costa de Sol. Once here, they simply came up against the best player in the world.
