Tennis fans will be asked to choose between a pair who can be hard to love for wildly differing reasons
For one of the best sportspeople who has ever lived, Novak Djokovic really does have lousy timing. In January, he couldn’t have picked a worse time to pack his rackets, log onto Instagram and fly to Australia. In the lead up to the Australian Open, Melbourne was a muggy, deserted, Covid-riven and pissed-off city.
At the time, it was hard to secure fresh produce, painkillers, dog kibble and rapid antigen tests. The prime minister was useless. A six-year old girl was stabbed and killed. A mass brawl broke out at a supermarket, with one shopper whacked over the head with a saucepan. The city was in no mood for wise cracking superstars unwilling to disclose their vaccination status.