Novak Djokovic needs to take the Covid-19 jab to stop Rafael Nadal from pulling away

By DEBORAH CURTIS-SETCHELL

THIRD time lucky in a five-set Melbourne final. Rafa Nadal had succumbed to Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic, but not to Daniil Medvedev.

There is no doubt Nadal’s mammoth feat in bagging his second Australian and 21st Grand Slam title will have woken “the sleeping giant”.

After an unconvincing 2021, in which he was beaten by Andrey Rublev in Monte Carlo, Alexander Zverev in Madrid, Djokovic at Roland Garros and Lloyd Harris in Washington, the Spanish GOAT has once again discovered the addictive sweetness of success. According to coach Carlos Moya, Nadal wants more, much more.

It’s the equivalent of feeding Serena Williams aged 11, Curly fries and Snickers on demand, when lethargic and refusing to move mid a practice session. A satiated Serena would suddenly turn into a demon, demonstrating fancy footwork, whilst unleashing torpedos across the net at sister Venus.

Narrowly defeated Medvedev however, having faced a barrage of similarly lethal torpedos, will be departing Melbourne on a distinctly sour note, contemplating that worse still, being pipped at the post by Nadal, played into Djokovic’s hands: The latter’s No 1 ranking, under threat had the World No 2 won the Australian, remains intact. Djokovic will know that keeping Medvedev from pole position will be a whole lot less daunting, than chasing Nadal’s 21 titles, on clay.

The Serb was betting on defending his title in Australia, having found the necessary loopholes pertaining to the unvaccinated. Deportation was never on the cards, now stacked against him to the extent that his autobiographer, Daniel Muksch, reckons Djokovic will be forced to do a U-turn on the Covid jab, or forever see himself in Nadal’s rear view mirror.

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