Loved and unloved: Behind the relationship between Djokovic and Australia |
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To win the Australian Open for the 11th time and become the first to reach 25 grand slam singles titles, Novak Djokovic will likely have to surpass the young duo who lately surpassed him in Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
In 2025, Djokovic, then a sprightly 37, summoned peak Novak to conquer Alcaraz in four sets at Melbourne Park, only to forfeit to Alexander Zverev in the semi-final due to a muscle tear he’d carried into that semi.
He did not know then if 2025 would be his final Australian Open. “There is a chance. Who knows?”
Djokovic made it back to the fatal shores, of course, to the delight of Tennis Australia and will enter this Australian Open as probably the next most fancied man, outside of Sinner and Alcaraz, having fallen to the former twice (Roland-Garros and Wimbledon) and the latter once (US Open) in the semis during 2025.
Djokovic poses with the the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup in 2023 after his 10th Australian Open title.Credit: Scott McNaughton
And he will have, as ever, a legion of fans in his corner, and a chunk of the public that will be barracking against him; this has long been the Novak equation, the forceful Serb having the misfortune to be the trust buster, the player who broke up the duopoly of the more-adored Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but a disrupter to popular rule rather than underdog.
The 20-year relationship between the most successful (male) player in tennis history, and the Australian public, has been complicated.
Paul McNamee, the former tournament director of the Australian Open, is one of those in the pro-Djokovic camp, but who also recognises – and is willing to take a stab at diagnosing – the origins of the anti-Novak cohort within the country that has been his premier partner on the measure of grand slam victories.
Djokovic supporters protest outside the Park Hotel on January 7, 2022. He was held there along with refugees and asylum seekers in detention.Credit: Chris Hopkins
McNamee’s view is that Djokovic is the subject of “cultural differences” between him and a sizeable portion of the Australian public.
Noting Djokovic’s “compassion” for others and unseen........