Novak Djokovic’s Bittersweet Miracle In Melbourne

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic who on Sunday, won his 17 th Grand slam Championship and his 8 th Australian Open in as many finals after getting the better of Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 in 5 riveting sets, was left with a bittersweet taste in his mouth due to the apparent sway of crowd support being pit against him during the course of the match.

Djokovic who time and again has proclaimed the Australian Open to be his favourite tournament on the ATP circuit and the Rod Laver Arena to be his favourite hunting ground, felt hard done by in the early stages of his match against fifth seed Dominic Thiem, after the crowd made it evident that it was rooting against him.

Novak expressed disappointment multiple times throughout the entirety of the match regarding this by looking at his player box in disbelief while smirking at the crowd among other such ways and didn’t hesitate in remaining consistent with this approach even after he had converted his match point and triumphed as he pointed out to a rather vocal Thiem supporter in the crowd before signalling him to shut his mouth which only goes to show the degree to which it all affected him.

This is not new for the Serbian as he has always been treated as the second favourite by the crowd regardless of where he plays during the penultimate stages of a tournament when he inevitably comes up against the likes of other beloved virtuosos like Switzerland’s Roger Federer or Spain’s Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic’s problem however might have stemmed from the fact that the public seal of approval still eluded him despite him facing off against Thiem, a dangerous but rather new contender who still has miles to go before cementing his place in the world of tennis as a household name.

This visible indignation in the champion further amplified in the second set during his service game at 4-4, when the umpire twice warned him for a 25 second time violation, the second time when he was down break point taking his first serve away which disrupted his flow and led to him getting broken after which he quickly dropped the second and third sets while playing at a level which was well below his best as pointed out by veteran commentators in charge of the match, Mark Petchey and John Fitzgerald.

The Serbian ace though who is known in the tennis fraternity to be a “Mental Giant,” stayed true to his reputation and did not succumb to the odds stacked against him as he returned in typical fashion winning the fourth and the fifth sets decisively after receiving treatment off court during a medical time out which he took at the end of the 3 rd set causing worrisome speculation amongst his supporters.

Djokovic despite being the favourite on paper, was not expected to triumph easily in the final, as Thiem had gotten the better of him during the last four out of their five outings including twice on a grand slam stage, proving to the world that he was not one to be diminished by the magnitude of the moment. In addition, Thiem on his way to the final had also showed spectacular form in disposing off heavy favourite Rafael Nadal in the quarter final before conquering another future champion in the form of Alexander Zverev in the semifinal while only dropping a single set to both of them.

Serbia’s superstar however, who entered the Australian Open as world number 2, managed to secure a hard fought victory in five hotly contested sets and in doing so, is all set to reclaim his world number 1 ranking, dethroning Rafael Nadal from the helm. This also puts Djokovic’s grand slam tally at a staggering total of 17, which is just three shy of Federer’s record 20 and two short of Nadal’s 19. Keeping in mind that the Serbian has significantly more time left in his career than his aging counterparts Federer and Nadal, he is now the favourite to end up as the all time leading grand slam champion in tennis history.

-Gaurav Agarwal

B.A. (Journalism & Mass Communication)

Also Watch: Watch | First Reaction of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Union Budget 2020