At the Australian Open men’s final, where Novak Djokovic breezily defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, corporate Australia’s most dependable hosts put on the very best showing they could.

True, the groups were smaller, the apologies numerous, and the dress code intentionally if only mildly suffocating (officials milled around with disposable face masks, presumably for the out-of-towners not used to carrying theirs around).