Tennis fans will be asked to choose between a pair who can be hard to love for wildly differing reasons
Composite: Getty ImagesComposite: Getty Imagesreally does have lousy timing. In January, he couldn’t have picked a worse time to pack his rackets, log onto Instagram and fly to Australia. In the lead up to the Australian Open, Melbourne was a muggy, deserted, Covid-riven and pissed-off city.
But he really pushed his luck this January. Djokovic’s mug led the news for more than a week. His supporters were camped outside his quarantine hotel, singing Balkan folk songs. The live stream of his visa appeal was bedevilled by lengthy dropouts, porn and spamming. The local newspapers published columns by comedians, immigration lawyers and experts on Serbian nationalism. They pondered which actor would play him in a mini-series.
Djokovic was on a hiding to nothing though. Australia’s prissy tennis crowds and press have never warmed to him. Australian crowds sensed his siege mentality, his aching need. They applauded grudgingly. They were never really openly hostile – tennis crowds are generally too polite and puckered up for that. But there was a sullen resentment at Djokovic matches. People clapped slowly, if at all. They’d turn to their partner and make a face. He sensed that, and it wounded him. It spurred him too. He was always at his best when the crowd was blatantly against him, when the animal within was unleashed.
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