Djokovic plays his best when he believes the world is against him.
Jan 21, 2025 07:03 IST First published on: Jan 21, 2025 at 07:03 IST
The tennis calendar is only into its first month but already what could turn out to be the defining contest of the year is here. The last titan of the greatest generation in the men’s game, Novak Djokovic, against one of the current stars on the circuit, Carlos Alcaraz. At 37 and coming off a season without adding to his Grand Slam tally, it would be tempting to conclude that Djokovic is no longer a force at the very top of the sport, especially when Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner evenly split all the Majors of 2024 between them. But as the Serb showed in winning his first Olympic singles gold in Paris, beating Alcaraz in the final, nothing is beyond him. With the Spaniard needing the Australian Open to complete a career Grand Slam, both bragging rights and history are at stake.
Djokovic is the most successful male player in Grand Slam history, lifting the Australian Open trophy no less than 10 times. But he wears on his sleeve a grievance that he hasn’t got his due, or not as much as his illustrious contemporaries Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have. This year, too, he has brought up the ignominy of deportation from Australia during the pandemic and even alleged that he may have been “poisoned” during that episode.
Djokovic plays his best when he believes the world is against him. It fuels his angst to prove a point and makes him a dangerous proposition for his opponent. The Serb has improved as the tournament has progressed, and has a narrow 4-3 lead in their head-to-head history. But in a bid to prevent himself from being consigned to the status of a legend from the past, that too at his favourite hunting ground, this could be Djokovic’s last stand.
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