MELBOURNE, Australia — Over the last week or so, it’s been easy to forget that Novak Djokovic is not the defending Australian Open champion. Partly because he is a 10-time winner here, partly because of his outsized profile, and partly because he remains a magnet for drama — even when he’s not playing.
Ahead of the tournament, he appointed old rival Andy Murray as his coach in a shocking — but also logical — union of two of the most important men’s tennis players in the last 20 years. Then he agreed to play doubles with Nick Kyrgios, clinching their transformation from adversaries to brothers that began with Kyrgios advocating for Djokovic after his deportation from Australia over Covid-19 protocols in 2022.
He was only just getting started. As the players descended on Melbourne Park for pre-tournament news conferences, Djokovic resurrected memories of 2022 in two interviews. He told the Herald Sun of the “trauma” he feels when entering Australia, and then claimed he was “poisoned” by the food he ate while detained in a hotel three years ago in an interview with GQ.
“I realised that in that hotel in Melbourne, I was fed with some food that poisoned me,” Djokovic said.
“I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. Very high level of lead and mercury.”
It’s always been part of the package with Djokovic, who said at the French Open two years ago that: “A drama-free Grand Slam, I don’t think it will happen for me.” Then, he waded into tensions between ethnic Serbs and Albanians in the conflict over Kosovo by writing “Kosovo is at the heart of Serbia” on a camera lens. At last year’s Wimbledon, he accused the crowd of booing him and disrespecting him after the thrashed Holger Rune, largely because they were saying “Ruuuuuune,” which Djokovic, perhaps wilfully, interpreted as boos.
There, he reached the final weeks after meniscus surgery before Carlos Alcaraz blew him off court. Here in Melbourne, he entered the Australian Open with his tennis aura significantly dimmed for the first time in years, before taking his customary primetime evening slot on Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
He initially struggled in the face of the impressive American teenager Nishesh Basavareddy before winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Basavareddy played brilliantly before he was ultimately overwhelmed by Djokovic’s force of will — and on the night, his exceptional serve. Djokovic hit 23 aces — including a whole game of them towards the end of the third set — with 68 per cent of first serves in and 78 per cent of those points won.
Since the start of 2011, aside from at Roland Garros, it’s pretty much been the case that, if he’s fit and motivated, Djokovic’s best level will be too good for everyone else. That’s no longer the case, and with Sinner and Alcaraz blunting his tennis edge, the 24-time Grand Slam champion is falling back on his off-court aura to become the biggest show in town.
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There’s an element with the off-court theatrics of Djokovic just not being able to help himself — he believes strongly in a number of issues and is always liable to speak about them in a compelling way — but it also feels as though he is relishing being a sideshow. At 37, he knows that it won’t go on forever — and it’s the biggest edge he has over his new great rivals.
The last 12 months have introduced mortality to Djokovic’s tennis. Last year he failed to win a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2017 and was handily beaten by both Sinner and Alcaraz at the majors. Both of those players have screeched past him, winning a pair of Slams each last year, and they and the tennis world know that if they bring their best level over five sets, they are too good for Djokovic.
But this doesn’t stop Djokovic from being the ‘Main Man’ of men’s tennis, a role he seems to be embracing more than ever before, and one that wasn’t indisputably his until Roger Federer and then Rafael Nadal retired. He’s leaning into his aura, which is now unmatched — despite Sinner and Alcaraz’s achievements — sucking oxygen in from everywhere but the tennis court, where he is no longer the top dog.
Djokovic has made Melbourne his living room throughout his tennis career (Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)
During Friday’s media day, Djokovic arrived towards the end of Alexander Zverev’s news conference and started asking him questions, as if he was one of the assembled reporters. It was lighthearted and good-natured, but a reminder that Djokovic has the run of this place — double-digit titles will do that.
He was also dressed differently to the rest of the players, looking imperious in a crisp white shirt and navy blue Bermuda shorts; Zverev jokingly asked him why he wasn’t wearing tennis gear like the rest of the draw. Earlier in the day, footage was shared on social media of Djokovic running into Sinner in one of the player areas — the pair shook hands but they weren’t hanging about to chat. Dressing-room aura has always been important to Djokovic, something he learned quickly from Federer and Nadal. Sartorial choices that reminded everyone of who held chief status were a particular favorite of Federer, who would have approved of Djokovic’s attire on Friday.
On Sunday, the tennis world got another window into Djokovic’s thinking, when Murray said that part of his motivation for playing on is to be considered not just the best tennis player of all time, but the greatest ever athlete. “I think he maybe already has a legitimate claim to be the best athlete of all time,” Murray told reporters.
“But if he can go out as a 38, 39-year-old and win more slams, and beat Alcaraz and Sinner in big matches, he’s got a claim to be the best athlete of all time and I think that’s exciting for me and his team to be part of that.”
‘Best athlete of all time’ — another decent headline about a player who hadn’t yet struck a ball in anger at the Australian Open. With rain and an unspectacular schedule on Sunday, Djokovic remained one of the biggest talking points over the weekend ahead of a manic Monday on which he, Sinner, Alcaraz and Kyrgios were all in action.
Djokovic is familiar with not needing to play to be the headline act in Melbourne. When he won the title in 2021 and 2023, discourse about his fitness dominated even on the days when he wasn’t in action. In 2021, it was an abdominal issue; two years later, his hamstring. Djokovic often doesn’t just win but overcomes a major obstacle in the process.
It’s a slightly different dynamic now that Djokovic isn’t the overwhelming tournament favourite, but his magnetic relationship with drama could help him over the next fortnight in moments when his tennis isn’t enough. Djokovic is the master of making himself the main character in the story, even though Sinner and Alcaraz are the men to beat and there are six players seeded higher than him.
Against Basavareddy, Djokovic briefly looked in trouble when he lost the first set, but he steadied himself and let out some big roars of celebration as he turned the match around. The relief was palpable, even though he knew that bigger tests awaited than a rookie 19-year-old ranked outside the world’s top 100 who was cramping after losing the second set.
And appropriately enough for this iteration of Djokovic, the match was immediately followed by a typically entertaining on-court interview. During this, Djokovic laughed at the fact that Basavareddy’s WhatsApp profile picture is of him, and joked about his coach Murray’s skiing skills. The crowd at Rod Laver Arena lapped it up.
There’s no doubt that Djokovic is the biggest show in town here. But with Sinner and Alcaraz lying in wait, can his tennis live up to his star billing?
(Top photo: David Gray / AFP via Getty Images)
