[ad_1]
Sorry Rafa, but Novak loved the balls.
Those fluffy Dunlop globes that drove you crazy for two matches were absolutely perfect for the man who now has as many grand slams as you.
He said so himself after cruising past Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 7-6 7-6 to claim a 10th Australian Open title in a tournament where the welcome mat rolled out for a man who was famously missing last year looked more like a red carpet.
To be fair, Novak Djokovic has rarely played better than he has in the past fortnight. He put his own form up there with some of his most dominant seasons (2011 and 2015).
It wouldn’t have mattered if he had to play the whole tournament with a leg injury, no one was touching him in 2023. Especially with Nadal’s chances ruined by a bung hip.
But the preferential treatment he received certainly didn’t harm his chances.
Starved of big ticket names in the absence of Ash Barty, Nick Kyrgios, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka — and Nadal after he exited in the second round — Djokovic was handed a staggering seven consecutive night matches on Rod Laver Arena.
Tennis journalist Catherine Whittaker said the advantage the Serb gained was “extreme”.
“I don’t think there’s ever been anybody who played all seven matches at night before (at the Australian Open),” she told the Tennis Podcast.
“Doesn’t there reach a stage of the tournament where sporting integrity steps in?”
On the same podcast, English tennis journalist David Law added: “I think they (Australian Open officials) have gone out of their way to make him feel comfortable.”
Djokovic defends father after ban | 00:41
But the scheduling was only half the story.
One of the great controversies of the first week of the tournament was the frustration of Nadal, and other players like Felix Auger-Aliassime, with the balls.
“They say (it) is the same, but the ball is worse quality, without a doubt,” Nadal said.
Auger-Aliassime described them as “terrible”.
And then there was cagey old Djokovic, who also spoke at length about the balls playing “slower”, which was leading to longer rallies, but never took a position on whether that was good or bad.
That is until he’d won the tournament.
“You know, I said this million times but I have to repeat it again – if I have to choose one court, conditions, balls, it would be night session Rod Laver with these balls,” the new world number one told Channel 9.
“I mean, for me, (it was) by far the best conditions that I’ve ever played in.”
It’s obviously not the job of tournament organisers to make life more difficult for Djokovic next year, no matter how much the majority of Australians would like to see it happen.
We’re not asking Craig Tiley to start treating the most credentialed player in tournament history like a touring Indian cricket team, but if Tiley’s interested in having a more competitive tournament — which he should be — how about removing some of the obvious advantages.
[ad_2]
