IF ever there was a horse for a course, in tennis terms, then it is Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. And the bad news for Andy Murray and the rest is that the Serb is talking like a champion again.
Having lost the aura of invincibility in 2016 he had held for much of the past three years, Djokovic beat Murray in Doha last weekend to win the title and lay down a marker for the new season.
That win, combined with a good off-season, the banishment of some off-court problems and a return to his favourite haunt means Djokovic is still the man to beat, even if he is trying to play it down, in classic champion fashion.
“I never had an invincibility,” said Djokovic, who must win the title to have a chance to regain the No 1 ranking from Murray this fortnight.
“Nobody is invincible. I never thought of myself as a superior player on the court, even though of course at times I was very confident, I was winning a lot of matches.
“But knowing how it feels on the court, if you get overconfident, that’s why I don’t want to get into that kind of state of mind. I still want to put myself in a position where I’m quite even to other players, fight for this trophy as anybody else, even though I’m defending champion.
“The fact that I’ve done so well in Melbourne Park the last 10 years of my career – basically, it’s been the most successful Grand Slam that I’ve had – of course gives me a lot of thrill, a lot of confidence and excitement to approach it.”
Part of the reason Djokovic wants to play it down is the fact that his first-round opponent is Fernando Verdasco, the Spaniard who upended Rafael Nadal at the same stage here 12 months ago.
Djokovic saved five match points when beating Verdasco in Doha last week and knows how dangerous an opponent he can be.
But the important thing for Djokovic is how he is playing, having regained his form after an alarming and surprising slump in the second half of last year.
Having won both the year’s first two Grand Slam titles to complete the career Grand Slam, and make it four slam wins in a row, Djokovic lost early at Wimbledon and the Olympics, with rumours of problems off the court clearly affecting his performance.
He reached the final of the US Open but it wasn’t until he arrived in London for the ATP Tour Finals that Djokovic said he began to feel himself again.
“I played very well [in London], compared to the three, four months before that, where I was kind of struggling to find that right level in quality of tennis,” he said yesterday. “But I’ve worked very hard… in the off-season, trying to get myself in the right state of mind, in a right shape and form.
“I couldn’t ask for a better start of the season, saving some match points in the semi-finals [in Doha], playing a really exciting match against Verdasco, then the next day against Andy. You know, thrilling final. It was great.”
One or other of Djokovic and Murray has been in the final of 21 of the past 25 Grand Slams but others also have title hopes, including 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, fit again after missing the second half of last year.
The absence allowed Federer to rest his ailing knee, which required surgery in March, and though he says he is fit and pain-free, he won’t know if he’s ready to compete over five sets until he finds himself in that situation.
At 35, Federer is the No 17 seed and opens against another 35-year-old, Juergen Melzer of Austria, no longer as outstanding favourite.
“I prefer to be the favourite, but underdog is OK,” he said. “As long as I’m healthy and I feel like I can go four, five sets, I can go many matches in a row, then I think it’s going to be fun.
“I’m super-pleased I made it here, that I have an opportunity to win matches. How many remains to be seen. I’m cautious myself.”
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