NOVAK DJOKOVIC will attempt to equal Rafa Nadal’s record tally of 22 tennis majors on Sunday evening after cruising into a 10th Australian Open final.
Destiny awaits the Serbian this weekend should he get the better of Stefanos Tsitsipas after he crushed American Tommy Paul 7-5 6-1 6-2 in the semi-finals.
Novak Djokovic is into Sunday’s Australian Open final
Djokovic beat unseeded American Tommy Paul in the semi-finals
With the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese watching from the VIP seats, Djokovic produced a presidential performance for a record 27th victory in a row in this tournament.
That is one better than Andre Agassi’s number of consecutive victories between 2000 and 2004 and further strengthens his King of Melbourne status – notwithstanding last year’s dramatic detention and deportation.
Djokovic’s dad Srjdan was not in the stands and watched back at the hotel having decided his presence would be a distraction after he posed, unwittingly or not, for photos with pro-Putin backers last Wednesday evening.
It remains to be seen if Djokovic Snr will attend the final but so far he has not seen his son really be pushed or prodded this past fortnight.
Most people groaned in exasperation when Paul’s forehand bounced off the net post in the opening point.
The odds were already against Paul in his first meeting with the nine-time Oz Open champion and many would have expected this to be over quite quickly in Djokovic’s favour.
But for some reason, the Belgrade battler lost his way and concentration after cruising into a 5-1 lead and wasting a set point.
First he quarrelled with the French umpire Damien Dumusois, complaining that the 25-second first-serve shot clock was being started too soon when he had not gone to his towel.
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And then the one-dimensional Paul suddenly found his range to break back TWICE before levelling up at 5-5.
Yet it never amounted to much because Djokovic ended up taking the first set in the 12th game just shy of an hour thanks to an unforced error from the Yank.
As he strode back to his chair, Djokovic placed his right finger behind his right ear as if to say to the doubters and cat-callers: ‘Is that all you have got?’
Idiotic hecklers have been a constant theme of these past two weeks, never more so than when a divisive character like Djokovic is on court.
Had it gone to a tie-break, it is difficult to say how close Paul could have pushed Djokovic, who has only dropped one set all tournament.
Paul’s failure to control his forehand came back to haunt him as he struggled for answers in one-sided second and third sets.
Anyone looking for an assessment of the former world No1’s health and fitness would have been left with more questions than answers.
At times, Djokovic looked uncomfortable when he bent over for his towel and a quicker breather and his first serve often hit the net.
For the majority of the time, however, he looked unstoppable, whether it was firing down 199km/h first serves to save a break point or routinely dismantling the Paul forehand.
Even with tape protecting that sore left hamstring, Djokovic continues to march on and unless Tsitsipas can offer something different, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup will be back in his possession once more.
