Alix Ramsay | Tennis 10sBalls • Reports From The Finals Of The Australian Open 2019 | RAFA vs. NOLE • Someone Say Spiders?

General view of tennis fans at the Rod Laver Arena watching the men’s singles semi final match between Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Lucas Pouille of France at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2019. EPA-EFE/LYNN BO BO

 

 

My friends are wise people.

 

Every year in Melbourne, I stay with Frank and Amanda. They must have the patience of Job to keep putting up with my ridiculous hours, to ignore me trying to creep in at 3am, trying (and failing) to be quiet as I finish work and then trying (and failing) to be quiet as I tiptoe to the kitchen for the fixings for a large G&T and – perchance – a cheese sarnie. But they keep asking me back. They are not only wise peeps, they are outstandingly good peeps.

 

But they know their stuff, do Frank and Amanda. They are sports nuts. They live a stone’s throw from Melbourne Park, the Aami Arena and the MCG. They love their cricket, their football and their tennis. They have proper, in-depth knowledge about all these sports. And they just don’t trust Novak Djokovic.

 

That is not to say that they wouldn’t trust him to keep an eye on their wallet as they nipped to the lav or wouldn’t trust him to feed their goldfish while they were on holiday. No, not at all. They just don’t trust him on a tennis court.

 

“Seems that Djoko has a sore back,” I tell them on the rare occasions that we are all awake at the same time. They give me that old fashioned look. “Dead spider,” they say in unison.

 

Their ‘dead spider’ theory is simple. The spider weaves his flimsy web and waits. The fly buzzes past. The spider curls up into a tiny ball looking for all the world like he is dead. The fly shrugs and buzzes past the web only to get a foot caught in the sticky silk. “Bugger it,” the fly says (as flies are won’t to say). The fly buzzes a bit more and pulls furiously to untangle his foot. Still the spider lies still. Dead. An ex-spider. The fly pulls and buzzes and swears. By now, the fly is more concerned with his foot than the deceased spider. And that is when the spider pounces. They fly becomes lunch and the spider moves on to his next victim. And so it is with Djokovic.

 

For the past 12 days, Rafael Nadal has looked magnificent. Getting better with every round, his last outing against Stefanos Tsitsipas was a true statement of intent. The young Greek god would not be allowed to lay a glove on the former champion. It was a masterclass from our Raf.

 

Meanwhile, Djokovic had been flying a little under the radar. He got the job done, all right, but he did not look stunningly good. On a scale of one to 10, he probably notched up a decent eight. Raf, though, was scoring a perfect 10.

 

And then we got to the semi-finals. From looking tired and sore against Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round and then mightily relieved against an injured Kei Nishikori on Wednesday, Djokovic looked outstanding against Lucas Pouille to win 6-0, 6-2, 6-2.

 

Against the best returner in the game, there was not a spot Pouille could pick to get a cheap point. Even when he tried to jam the six-time champion with a thumping body serve, Djoko and his elastic body wriggled out of the way to pump back a winning return. The world No.1 was devastatingly good and Pouille was not waving, he was drowning.

 

It took the Frenchman 31 minutes to get his first game on the board; 25 minutes later, he was two sets down. No contest.

 

So now Djoko and Raf will face off in the final on Sunday. It is their second Australian Open trophy match and their 53rd meeting in all. The last time they met here for the silverware, it took five hours and 53 minutes to resolve their differences. The last time they played was in the Wimbledon semi-final and that took five hours and 16 minutes to decide. Djoko won both. Bring blankets and a tent to this next final – it ain’t going to be quick.

 

“He’s my biggest rival in my career,” Djokovic said. “Mentally and emotionally what I think will do it for both of us, that will allow us to cross the finish line as a winner, is who is able to stay more focused, more determined, is going to cope with the pressure moments better.

 

“It’s no secret. That’s something that we have experienced against each other for the last 15 years. I think that experience that we both have will play an important role.”

 

That was stating the blindingly obvious.

 

Rafa, meanwhile, refused to say anything about his potential opponent. He played his semi-final on Thursday and with Djokovic and Pouille playing on Friday, he simply would not be drawn on the subject.

 

But he was happy to discuss his approach to the challenge ahead, whoever he faced. With a revamped serve for this new season (one that the dead spider has spotted, noted and analysed), he is able to shorten the points and attack at will. That said, he is not sure that anyone other than Djokovic has noticed.

 

“Is nothing new that I am aggressive,” he said. “The problem with myself is because I had a lot of success on clay people probably think I am not aggressive. I really believe that people think that are completely wrong.

 

“Of course, I am not doing serve and volley. I am not hitting winners every ball. But I play all the shots with a goal. There is no better way to be aggressive than hit every shot with the goal to create damage on the opponent. That was my goal during all the career.

 

“Today I can do that damage little bit earlier than before because during this event I have been serving great. So when you serve great, then the first ball normally is a little bit easier. That’s probably the only reason. I had the determination to make that happen. That’s all.”

 

So this time the dead spider is trying to trap the significantly more aggressive fly. And for the first time in many a long year, the fly is fighting fit in Melbourne.

 

I would ask Frank and Amanda for a prediction but given that it is now 2.30am, they are sensibly in bed and I won’t see them until after the final. But I bet they know who is going to win.

 

They are wise people, my friends.