Unless Rafael Nadal produces something special against Bernard Tomic on his return to the Australian Open after missing last year’s tournament, the defending champion Novak Djokovic looks the scariest of the early front-runners.
The Serb, aiming for his fourth title in a row in Melbourne, went smoothly through the gears, with a stutter in mid-match, to dismiss Lukas Lacko in straight sets on day one and is unlikely to meet stiffer resistance in the second round tomorrow against Argentinian Leonardo Mayer.
Fit and fresh
Djokovic is relaxed, fit and fresh, having played no serious tennis for six weeks, and is unbeaten since winning the US Open when, coincidentally or not, he proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Jelena Ristic.
He dissolved in coyness when quizzed on a marriage date on court by Jim Courier; Djokovic will show no such reticence against world 98 Mayer, who beat the Spanish clay-courter Albert Montanes without fuss.
Djokovic has a good rapport with the Melbourne crowd – as does his new coach, Boris Becker, who beamed from the players’ box. The world number two said later, “We had a couple of matches in Abu Dhabi with him sitting in the box but it was the first official match, so, yes, it felt different, but in a positive way.
“We speak half-English, half-German. When we need to speak about serious stuff, we turn to English. My knowledge of the German language needs to be updated for the serious stuff. He has accepted my request to speak to me in German as much as he can because I would like to refresh my knowledge. I used to speak it.”
The language he speaks best is tennis, and they have conversed eloquently, it seems. "He definitely has great observations on my game, on tennis in general," Djokovic said.
Right direction
"We do speak a lot about different things. We try to get to know each other as much as we can, and the understanding has been great. It is all going in the right direction. This tournament is our priority; then we hope to maintain that consistency with success and co-operation throughout the whole year."
Nadal will be hoping not to follow the lead of another former Wimbledon champion, sixth seed Petra Kvitova, who has gone out at the first time of asking, to a Thai player called Luksika Kumkhum, whose monosyllabic answers in victory left journalists as frustrated as her vaunted Czech opponent was in three sets.
Asked what his first reaction was when he drew Nadal first up, Tomic said, "Happy New Year! No, it's a very tough match, but everything is possible. I'm playing good."
Destroyed
He was playing very well indeed until Juan Martin del Potro destroyed him in the final of the Apia International in Sydney on Sunday. And he will need to find a good deal more concentration if he is not to be blown away by Nadal. "I'm ready to compete well," the Spaniard said.
Tomic knows he has nothing to lose, and such a relaxed shot-maker might catch Nadal cold, at least early on. When they met here two years ago in the third round, Tomic was racing away with the second set, 4-0, until Nadal found his game. –
Guardian Service
