Novak Djokovic wins Round 2, still favorite, but the Australian Open can be crazy like in 1998
On a day where seeds were hunted down, Novak Djokovic holds his own as he takes down Enzo Couacaud to make it to the third round in the 2023 Australian Open.
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Petr Korda and Novak Djokovic
This is turning out to be a crazy edition of the Australian Open. Favorites are bombing, injuries are happening and Novak Djokovic known for his saint-like sanity is also losing his cool. You cannot blame it on one factor alone. The topsy-turvy first Grand Slam of the season is turning out to be testing one and all.
If Rafael Nadal bombed at the box office on Tuesday and was out with a hip injury, the medical update was worse. The Spaniard is going to be out for around 10 weeks. Worse, on Wednesday, as well-known names collapsed, Novak was also in pain and trouble.
He normally disguises his emotions, he is a master at that. On Wednesday, the Serbian showed he was also a human and not a robot. His left hamstring is taut, he is dealing with it day by day, as he says. The tennis ball is slower than what it was a few years ago, which is a curse for the players. The damn fuzzy ball has to be whacked harder. And, it hurts.
If the last two days, the weather was hot, then raining. The play happened indoors, though. Wednesday was different. The mood was somber, what with so many casualties. All focus is on one man, Novak, that he will win his 22nd Grand Slam title. As it is, he has won 23 matches on the trot at AO, a record of sorts that even the official AO handle is going gaga over.
Novak Djokovic tested by Enzo Couacaud
If matches and Grand Slam titles can be won so easily, Novak Djokovic will reach 30 titles eventually! Hold your horses, do not make Novak out to be some kind of player who is inhuman. When he had to battle past Enzo Couacaud in four sets, it looked so easy on TV sets. No, Novak was getting worked up by a fan inside the arena and the favorite wanted him thrown out! You would have never seen Novak behave like this.
You would also never see Novak moving with a bit of a hobble, as the left hamstring was taped tightly Only he knows how he is competing, rather fighting the pan barrier and a player like Enzo. Novak was also arguing with the chair umpire, something which got him fulsome flak on social media. All these are ingredients go to show the human element is still alive at the AO, no matter what is happening with crazy results.
Novak spoke on how he had to fight hard even as “Stayin Alive” was the song of the day, the good old number from Bee Gees! Sample this, Novak needed a medical timeout as well, before closing out the match against a dogged French qualifier Enzo Couacaud in four sets at the Rod Laver Arena. Just as the form was fluctuating, so was the weather in Melbourne.
Novak knew he had to turn on the beast mode as stretching the match longer was going to be painful — literally. Here is a man who has won the title nine times and gunning for the 10th. “There was a lot happening in the match,” said Djokovic. “He (Enzo) played some great tennis, especially in the second set. We both had some medical timeouts and struggled a little bit. But I managed to respond well in the third and fourth,” added Novak.
The mind does back to the Australian Open in 1998 when favorites and the baseline barons were bombed out. It was a crazy year, where nothing was unpredictable. Looks so easy to be an armchair critic and say Novak will win this title in 2023. Please recall, what happened in 1998, when an unknown Czech player Petr Korda won the title. He became famous with that win in Melbourne, though, later, he also faced a dope ban and retired.
In 1998, Korda, had beaten Marcelo Rios from Chile in straight sets in the final. It was a battle between two left-handers but Rios was as crazy as Nick Kyrgios and lost in quick time. In terms of talent, Rios was blessed with strokes and touch, yet Korda was a surprise winner. He was a rank outsider that year, where Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Karol Kucera, and home favorite Pat Rafter lost.
Crazy was the word to describe that edition of the AO, 25 years ago. Korda became a hero but his legend status was short-lived. This is the beauty of sport, how nothing is confirmed a 100 per cent. Novak is fit, still he is gingerly moving. At 35, he looks fit as a fiddle but if the curse of a certain TV series, God forbid, happens, again, anything can happen. If you are a Novak fan, you will pray he wins this title. After all, the big guns are silent.
Good luck Novak, you need it!
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S Kannan
(382 Articles Published)