Novak Djokovic: charm offensive is faltering
Physically, things are going well again for Novak Djokovic. In the round of 16 match against Alex de Minaur, he appeared to be in little to no pain - even if the Aussie was in no shape to challenge the Serb properly. Nevertheless, the headwind for the top favorite is getting stronger and coming from many directions.
by Daniel Mueksch
last edit: Jan 23, 2023, 06:09 pm
Just a few days ago it seemed like Novak Djokovic had gotten his image under control better and the local fans in Australia were also on his side. With kind words, he tried to take the explosiveness out of his first appearance Down Under after last year's vaccination drama. With success. After his first appearance, the fans cheered for the Serb and "Nole" visibly enjoyed the approval - cheered on by the large Serbian community in Australia.
But there was already an incident in the second round against the French Enzo Couacaud: drunken fans bullied the superstar and Djokovic instructed the referee to remove the "fans", which he promptly ordered. So far, so understandable.
An unauthorized pee break was also an issue in round two. Longer breaks to relieve blisters or to change outfits are only allowed after a set, so Djokovic was only allowed the time for a normal change of sides by the referee.
The situation surrounding his thigh problems, which are viewed more and more critically, is already more controversial. Barbara Rittner, for example, believes that it is very important to the Serb that everyone knows about the problems and that you can see how he is struggling. After the (incident-free) match against de Minaur, the Serb defended himself against the allegations, saying that other players are portrayed as 'victims' when injured, while he is portrayed as someone faking an injury. A rogue who got the name Rafael Nadal in his head.
A video was also hotly debated on social media in which Djokovic was given a drinking bottle from his box with a note stuck to it. Djokovic quickly tore it off, the internet community claims to have identified unauthorized contact with his box. Others saw it as a non-compliant "foreign bottle". But that is definitely not true, because that has been clarified with the organizer and other players also handle it in the same way. Djokovic was given a bottle from his new partner "Waterdrop". But with "Bad Boy" Djokovic you prefer to look three times.
Now it comes to the showdown against Rublev
Some is a petitesse, other at least somewhat strange behavior. If there are no problems at all in terms of sport, like 6:2, 6:1; 6: 2 in the round of 16 against Alex de Minaur, and the emotions do not boil up, the side-war scenes are not brought into focus as much. But it will certainly not be a walk like against de Minaur in the quarterfinals against Andrei Rublev.
But apart from titles, opponents and trophies, it becomes increasingly clear the longer the Australian Open lasts: Djokovic will not be able to win the hearts of fans and the public as easily as initially thought. If any…