Novak Djokovic: The Unwavering King of Melbourne

He returns to his land. Where he seems almost untouchable. So, he announces it without flinching when asked who represents the biggest threat of the tournament: “First of all me, as always”. And don’t think this is excessive pride. It’s just the truth. We are talking about the world number 1. From the record holder for the number of Grand Slams in history with his 24 wins to his name. From a player who won three more Majors last year while failing in the final at Wimbledon despite being 36 years old. And above all, from the owner of the place.

In Melbourne, Novak Djokovic is the king. Since 2008, he has won ten times there. And since 2018, there has not even been a taste of defeat. So he doesn’t get carried away. He just announces the color, in all sincerity. “It’s no secret and I say it clearly that I want to win every Grand Slam I participate in. It’s no different this year,” he says. “I just hope I can start the season as I have regularly done throughout my career: with a victory here, in Australia, in Melbourne. My favorite place, without a doubt. The court where I achieved great things and achieved my best results in a Grand Slam.”

Djokovic in training, on the eve of his entry into contention

Opposed in the first round to Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic in the evening on the Rod Laver Arena, Djoko therefore has the knife between his teeth, as always. And if some were wondering about his physique, he was reassuring about the state of his right wrist, painful for his first matches of the season. “My wrist is fine. I had time, between my last match against De Minaur at the United Cup (6-4, 6-4 defeat ten days ago, editor’s note) and my first match here (Sunday in session evening), to recover. I did good training sessions, without feeling any pain until then. Everything is looking good,” he slips.

And if he’s waiting to see how his wrist will react in a match (“I can’t predict whether it will resurface or not, I don’t know. With matches, the stress level increases. We’ll see.”), Novak Djokovic will in any case draw on his old Australian secrets to try to achieve an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam coronation and an 11th in Melbourne. “I like to visit certain places that have brought me luck and make me feel good. For example, the botanical garden. It’s a beautiful park where I like to spend time and be alone in nature, cuddling trees, climbing on them… I love that (…) During Grand Slam tournaments, there are a lot of challenges to overcome, whether mental, physical or emotional. It’s good to have places where you can rest, relax, recharge your batteries and gather all the energy you need for the next day.”

Djokovic: “My wrist is fine”

It’s an Olympic year, the season is very long

These are perhaps the keys to his multiple Australian successes. Havens of peace where he can recharge his batteries. And he hopes to take advantage of it once again in the coming days to make history again: “I hope to be able, if not to play at the level I played at last year, at least to be very close, because I played some of the best tennis of my career there. It’s an Olympic year, the season is very long. The Grand Slam tournaments, the Olympics, those are the big goals.”

And if he is still at last year’s level, it will be time at one point or another in the season to talk again about his dream of a golden Grand Slam in this Olympic year. Winning the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic Games in the same year, a feat that only Steffi Graf has achieved, is indeed necessarily on her mind after her failure in 2021. But on the cusp of this new opus of the ATP, he is still far from it. And while he has never won a gold medal at the Games, he knows what a monstrous challenge it represents. “I have to concentrate on one thing at a time,” warns the native of Belgrade, cautious this time.

World No. 1, number of Djokovic GCs… Our consultants’ predictions for the season

2024-01-13 10:58:00
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