This business of defending Grand Slam titles is not as easy as it looks. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal seem to have the knack, but for Novak Djokovic, it is still uncharted territory.
The Serb, if you remember, stunned the mighty Fed in the semifinals here last year before going on to steamroll his way past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. It was a stunning start to a stellar year that ended with Djokovic winning the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. The only trouble is that he now has it all to do again in 2009 if he is to maintain his place in the world pecking order.
As if life was not difficult enough, the defending champion changed his racquet just before the start of the new season, abandoning his trusty old Wilson in favour of a shiny new Head. Given that most players are so sensitive that they can notice a stray fibre in the nap on a tennis ball, this seemed like a bold move. After losing in the first round in Brisbane and the semifinals in Sydney as he made his way to Melbourne, it started to look like a less-than-wise move.
Then there is the small matter of the pressure. Djokovic has never been short of self-confidence, and winning here last year boosted that belief 10-fold. But having dared to put himself in the same class as Federer and Nadal, he then had to prove his worth week in and week out – and that was the hard part.
Djokovic is something of a one-trick pony, albeit with an extremely impressive trick. His game is explosive and effective, but it seldom varies. He plays pretty much the same way on every surface and against every opponent – and when that opponent has worked out what Djokovic is going to do next, everything starts to unravel. Federer has solved the Serbian puzzle, Nadal worked it out a long time ago, and now Andy Murray has cracked the conundrum. Of the top four men in the world, Djokovic is looking the most vulnerable at the moment.
Still, Andrea Stoppini should not have posed too much of a threat to the defending champion and world No. 3 – and yet the Italian gave Djokovic a thorough work-out for nearly two hours in the sun before the champion was able to pull rank and win 6-2 6-3 7-5.
To say that Stoppini flew in under the radar to reach the Australian Open hardly does his arrival justice. It was more that the 28-year-old was bundled into Melbourne Park by the tradesman's entrance under cover of darkness and draped from head to foot in camouflage. He was making his Grand Slam debut after trying – and failing – to qualify for a major tournament on 10 previous occasions. The world No. 220 was, therefore, something of an unknown quantity.
Although he has consistently declined to set the world alight, he has still amassed a healthy USD$199,716 in prizemoney. The only slight drawback is that it has taken him 11 years to collect that loot, which puts his annual earnings around USD$18k mark. Clearly his tennis career is a labour of love rather than a pursuit of profit.
To give Stoppini his due, he tried everything he knew to slow Djokovic down but it was not quite enough to get the job done. He served, he volleyed, he chipped, he charged, but it was all to no avail. Then again, by rights and according to their respective world rankings, he should not have detained the No. 3 seed for as long as he did. Having the temerity to break Djokovic's serve in the second set was bad enough, but when he took a 4-0 lead in the third set, there was a deep furrow in the brow of the Serb and a look of sheer delight on the face of Stoppini.
The Italian's advantage did not last for long as an increasingly grumpy Djokovic reeled him in, pulled back a break of serve and then waited for the inevitable. Djokovic may be feeling the pressure here, but it would be as nothing compared to the world No. 220 trying to serve out the third set. Sure enough, Stoppini wavered and Djokovic pounced.
When it was all over, the two men shared a laugh and a joke at the net and then swapped shirts like footballers at the end of a cup final. Stoppini had clearly had the time of his life at Rod Laver Arena, but while Djokovic smiled and waved, he knew full well that he has a lot of work yet to do if he is to repeat his success of last year. Defending major crowns really is not as easy as Federer and Nadal make it look.
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