Djokovic Remains Strong Favourite For Australian Open
With the Australian Open due to start on 8 February, avid tennis fans are speculating about whether Novak Djokovic can win his ninth Australian Open Grand Slam title at the grand old age of 33. Djokovic’s astonishing success at Melbourne Park – with eight finals played and won – has delivered eight out of his 20 Major titles to date, and he goes into the tournament as strong favourite. Bookmakers offer odds of 11/8 that Djokovic will lift the Men’s Singles trophy on 21 February, putting the Serbian considerably ahead of his nearest rivals in the tournament – Dominic Thiem at odds of 5/1 from William Hill with Daniil Medvedev and Rafa Nadal a smidge behind in the betting, sharing odds of 11/2 from SkyBet.
Two big names in the men’s tour are not on the roster at Melbourne this time round. Roger Federer has pulled out of the event this year as his slow post-operative recovery is not yet complete. And Andy Murray is most unlikely to be able to play due to his positive test just before he was due to travel to Australia.
The decision to hold the tournament at all this year has drawn criticism and many Australians are vexed that the players and their support teams have been allowed to enter the country when many Australians remain stranded overseas.
Novak Djokovic is also attracting the ire of many Australians after reportedly sending a list of demands to the tournament director, Craig Tiley. The list is intended to alleviate the problems faced by the 72 players who are facing harsher conditions than their peers and includes requests for fitness training materials, better food appropriate for athletes, access to coaches and trainers and the request to move as many players as possible to private houses with tennis courts in order that they may train.
Although on the face of it the list appears reasonable, there is opposition to its provisions for two reasons – firstly, it is requesting more favourable treatment for the tennis players than is afforded to returning Australian citizens and, secondly, the list is coming from Djokovic who organised the ill-fated Adria tournament in June 2020 which resulted in positive tests for Djokovic and three other players. Brisbane-based journalist, Mark Gottlieb, wrote “you know who we shouldn’t be listening to about covid protocols for a tennis tournament? Novak “Adria Tour” Djokovic”. And the authorities have agreed with him. The Premier of Victoria has commented “..the answer is no..There’s no special treatment here”.
The controversy about the tournament and the issue of Djokovic’s demands are likely to dissipate over time, but Djokovic’s popularity with Australian tennis fans may have taken a hit. That said, he remains the firm favourite to win the Men’s Singles title. He has been the ATP World Number 1 for over 300 weeks and his domination in the men’s game is impressive. But he can be beaten and the second-favourite with the bookies – Austrian player, Dominic Thiem – definitely has the game to do it. The 27-year old was runner-up to Djokovic in Melbourne last year but beat the Serb at the Nitto ATP Finals some months later. The tally of wins between them stands at 7 for Djokovic versus 5 for Thiem who is ranked third in the world. Can the Austrian be the player to break Djokovic’s astonishing run at the Australian Open?
Russian player Daniil Medvedev is also a contender. The World Number 4 has beaten Djokovic 3 times since 2019 and the 24-year old is eager to win his first Grand Slam. Could this be his break-through year?
A player who has nothing to prove is Rafa Nadal who shares the position of joint third-favourite with Medvedev. The popular 34-year old veteran is ranked Number 2 in the world and won the Australian Open way back in 2009 when he was a nipper. More recently, the Spaniard was runner-up in 2019. Nadal is a fierce competitor and a win in Melbourne would be a dream result for his myriad of fans.
That said, Djokovic is favourite to prevail and it will take a very special player playing at his max to break the Serbian’s chokehold on the event. The Australian Open will commence on Monday, 8 February with the Men’s Final scheduled for Sunday, 21 February.
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