Daniil Medvedev failed the Novak Test in a big way.
He wasn’t himself.
He quit before he got started.
Novak Djokovic was more than himself.
He was near-perfect in Sunday’s Australian Open men’s final.
This brief match was decided by two things: Djokovic’s service game; and his net presence.
Medvedev became unglued when he saw Novak at the net.
ONLY A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST MEDVEDEV
Only in a few games did Medvedev demonstrate the rapid-fire deep forehands and backhands that had taken the skinny Russian to 20 straight victories before the Aussie final. Also only in a few games early in the match did he unleash the powerful serves to the corners of the box that had made even John McEnroe think Medvedev could upend Djokovic.
In short, Medvedev’s entire game was as wild as a bird in the wild. He didn’t even come close much of the time with his serves and ground strokes. When he missed, he really missed. He showed none of his usual rhythm in his game, none of the wind-ups for his patented whip-like forehands.
I’m sure many in the crowd of unmasked Australians that half-filled Rod Laver Arena must have regretted they didn’t party elsewhere.
It was that bad.
MEDVEDEV JUST ALONG FOR THE RIDE
As a result, the King of Melbourne Park did it again, win a ninth Grand Slam Down Under. Medvedev was just along for the ride in a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 humiliation.
Medvedev could only smile at the end as he admired King Novak. There was no reason to break another racket.
Djokovic started the onslaught with an ace and ended it with a spectacular backward-running, looping overhead motion that produced an overhead that barely cleared the net and fell inside the sideline on Medvedev’s forehand side.
There you have it in a nutshell: the serve; and the net presence of Djokovic. Both were awesome.
Mix in Djokovic’s almost error-free ground game, and it was a short night for everyone concerned.
In the U.S., I could hop back into bed for a few more hours of sleep, just one hour and 53 minutes after the start of the rout. No more alarms to worry about in the middle of the night.
MEDVEDEV SIMPLY WASN’T READY
Medvedev may have thought he was ready for Djokovic, but he wasn’t even ready for himself. Medvedev appeared to be helpless. He even tried to get the fans excited as he motioned to them. He couldn’t even get his own attention. He showed no fire.
The 6-6 former Wonderman appeared to lose any game plan he might have had. Only in the three games that followed a 3-0 start for Djokovic did Medvedev resemble the player that had made young Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas look so helpless two nights earlier in another straight-setter after Tsitsipas had put a similar beating on Rafa Nadal in the last three sets of a five-set quarterfinal.
THE KING PULLED AN ESCAPE ACT
Wow, this was a wild tournament, one suitable for a world slowed down for more than a year by the coronavirus.
Novak Djokovic just escaped it with his 18th Grand Slam title as he heads to the clay courts of Paris in about three months just two Grand Slam titles behind Nadal and Roger Federer. The trip Down Under worked out perfectly for the King of Melbourne Park.
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James Beck has been the long-time tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspaper. He can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. See his Post and Courier columns at postandcourier.com and search for James Beck.
