Few days are as agreeable as the one that Novak Djokovic savoured at Wimbledon yesterday. His match was mercifully brief for one who wilts in the sun, an erratic serve was on its best behaviour and, in Albert Montañés, of Spain, he was tossed a most obliging opponent.
Djokovic accepted the largesse, winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in a manner to be expected of the third-best player in the world. His groundstrokes bit deep into the court and his signature shot, his backhand down the line, was a thing of beauty.
On this showing the second week cannot come soon enough. On his showing this year, however, the Serb, 23, is in a state of flux. He has been treading water for three years, marooned on the same lofty ranking, but he now looks down more than he looks up. The man unable to break the Federer-Nadal stranglehold has turned instead to protecting what he holds.
Djokovic’s mind has been eroded by toxic memories: some real, some imagined. And the game no longer flows as it did in the flush of youth. We saw that yesterday, when Djokovic managed to make a drama out of one stray shot that bore little relevance to anything.
At 5-4, when he served for the second set, he should have been feeling invincible. He had dropped just eight points in as many previous service games, yet his first service was so wild that only Hawk-Eye knew whether the ball struck the baseline or bounced beyond it. It rendered him so rigid with fear that he promptly double-faulted.
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Here was Montañés’s chance. Djokovic played the next point nervously, offering his opponent a half-court ball that Montañés should have crushed for 0-30. But the hapless Spaniard found the net, in the process allowing Djokovic to rediscover his lost equilibrium. On such moments do matches hang.
Even when Djokovic advanced to 3-1 in the third set, he furiously berated himself for missing a difficult stopvolley. It was as if he was expecting his supremacy to unravel against an opponent who was already contemplating a quiet weekend at his Barcelona home.
Honest to a fault, Djokovic alluded to those moments afterwards. “I was pleased I managed to keep control of my opponent after I won the first set,” he said. “I haven’t been at my best for the last five months, but I have still been managing to hold on.”
Djokovic is an intelligent man: fluent in four languages, yet with the complex Balkan mentality. His addition of Todd Martin, the American former player, to his coaching retinue in January was quickly reversed as he returned to the mental sanctuary of Marian Vajda.
“I need somebody who I can talk to on and off the court,” Djokovic said, “someone with whom I can share my thoughts, emotions — everything. Marian and I have built up that relationship from the start.”
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In truth, varying degrees of turbulence have coursed through Djokovic for the past two years. The 2008 US Open brought his simmering discontent to the surface after he goaded the crowd and was rebuked by Roger Federer for his locker-room pranks. Since then he has rarely brought his sunny side to the court.
The cognoscenti maintain that Djokovic dwells too long on the negatives. “I am very self-critical,” he conceded, “but I was pleased with today — especially my serve. It’s something I have struggled with in the last two months.”
Djokovic barely broke sweat against Montañés, who had lost six of their seven previous sets. The Serb knew from the start that he could indulge himself and still not be punished for any profligacy by a clay-court specialist whose serve was the means by which to start a point, rather than win it.
In the circumstances it would have been good to see Djokovic enjoy such easy pickings. He has struggled against inferior opponents all year; only one of his 11 defeats came against a player ranked inside the top ten. He could certainly do with a lift.
Perhaps Wimbledon, where he reached the semi-finals three years ago, will encourage him to cast off the shackles. “It is a huge motivation to do well here,” he said. “I am building up my confidence, but my next match [against Lleyton Hewitt] is going to be very tough.” That much may be true, but it wouldn’t have cost the younger Djokovic much in the way of sleep.