Novak Djokovic is inevitable. Carrying a sore wrist and a mild case of the sniffles, the Serbian master worked himself into a lather at the right time thanks to the help of a heckler in the Rod Laver Arena and blew past Alexei Popyrin and into the third round of the Australian Open.
Popyrin gave a good account of himself against the world No.1 – and things might well have been different had he had the poise to convert four set points into a 2-1 lead in the third.
But after the Aussie blew his lines up 5-4 and 40-0 and Djokovic won the tiebreaker, an interaction with a fan fuelled Djokovic on his relentless march to victory.
Djokovic demanded the fan come and tell him whatever insult he’d thrown to the player’s face.
“I don’t know if he needs it [to fire himself up] but it’s happened,” said former champion Jim Courier in commentary.
“And typically when he has found some aggravation in the stands, he has played better.
“Would not be surprised if he wins a point and snarls.
“It’s a fairly easy prediction to make that if that gentleman who is bothering him has not been escorted out of the stands, that at some point Novak is going to snarl at him and raise a fist in his direction when something good happens on the scoreboard for the serve. Seen that movie many times.”
And so it panned out, just as Courier, and millions of other keen Novak observers predicted.
“It’s just uncanny how the light switch flicks on when someone or something in the stands irritates this man,” said Courier as Djokovic blazed and mugged his way up a service break to love.
“He just goes into superhuman mode. When he gets mad, he doesn’t get even – he pulls away. Popyrin struggling to win points since Novak confronted that fan.”
Popyrin, who had a medical time out for a calf issue, was his own worst enemy as acknowledged by Djokovic.
“I didn’t do anything special to save those set points in the third set. He had an easy forehand and he missed. He was the better player for one set and half.
“Things changed around, the momentum shifted in the tiebreak. I managed to put in one more ball in the court than he did – so that’s all.
“I mean, I don’t think I played maybe at the highest level – in some instances yes, but also credit to him for tactically coming out with the right game plan and serving big.
“He deserves a big round of applause for the performance tonight.”
Djokovic was seen stretching his troublesome wrist in the final set while Courier asked him about his health and “sniffles”. The famously un-vaxxed Serb ignored that question completely.
The relentless nature of his challenge is felt by everyone – including his closest rivals.
No.7 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas needed three match points and saved five set points against before ending the gutsy challenge of Australia’s Jordan Thompson in their Australian Open second round match – then fired a cheeky light-hearted sledge the way of Djokovic.
The Greek giant was beaten in straight sets by Djokovic in last year’s final and has yet to win a slam.
He was asked by John McEnroe after his 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 7-6 win over Thompson what it would take to break through and win a maiden slam and his thoughts turned to Djokovic, who was engaging in his own Australian battle against Alexei Popyrin on the nearby Rod Laver Arena.
“It’s one of two scenarios. Numbers don’t lie. Novak has been able to win here 12 times. He’s a very selfish person!” joked Tsitsipas.
Stefanos Tsitsipas. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
“I think he just manages to wake up feeling less selfish and a sharing is caring more type of vibe … So there are two scenarios – whether somebody needs to beat Novak who is not me, or it has to be me.”
Having received a customary strong welcome by Greek fans in the crowd he looked to have the match well under control after a blip in the opeing set.
But serving for the match in the fourth his first serve deserted him. It was a mess in a thrilling 12th game as Thompson had ample opportunity and five chances to claim the set and send it into a fifth before Tsitsipas scraped his way to a tie break. He made no mistake from there as his service power and accuracy returned at just the right moment.
“Today was raining. I was feeling sleepy. Drank Red Bull and was ready to go,” he said.
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