Novak Djokovic has faced plenty of controversy on his way to a ninth Australian Open final

Few tennis players have faced more headlines during a one-month period than Novak Djokovic this summer. How has he survived them to reach another Open final?

It’s been a wild Australian Open for Novak Djokovic. Picture: Getty Images

Novak Djokovic’s famous defence has been in operation even before he lobbed in Australia on January 15.

That’s why Djokovic, while reflecting on his arduous journey to Sunday night’s Australian Open final – his ninth at Melbourne Park – he described it as “unique circumstances”.

“Let’s keep it to that,” he followed up with, deadpan.

The world No.1 and former ATP Player Council president was one of an exclusive group invited to an Adelaide exhibition event made necessary by overflowing quarantine numbers in Melbourne.

Outspoken Frenchman Benoit Paire immediately lashed the exhibition, saying the top handful of players were again receiving preferential treatment.

On landing in Adelaide, Djokovic – who contracted the coronavirus last year from his ill-fated Adria Tour – was criticised for travelling in tournament transport without wearing a face mask.

Paire wasn’t the only player miffed, especially once they saw Djokovic wandering out onto his balcony for daily chats with local folk, as those in ‘hard’ quarantine came to terms with four walls.

Once his peers’ quarantine whining reached Djokovic’s Adelaide suite, he had a brainwave.

He’d get in touch with Tennis Australia chief and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley and try to come to the players’ rescue with a series of requests.

They were reported as demands, whereas Tiley called them suggestions. The fallout was ugly.

An Australian public already wary about the tennis circus rolling into town jeered at Djokovic’s ‘suggestions’.

They ranged from fitness equipment being delivered to all rooms, better food, reducing isolation time for those deemed close contacts, and even relocating “as many players as possible” to private houses with a court to train.

It’s been a wild Australian Open for Novak Djokovic. Picture: Getty Images

Nick Kyrgios branded Djokovic “a tool” – not missing the opportunity for another shot at him – which the Serb responded to by saying he didn’t “have much respect” for the Australian off-court.

Both comments resulted in predictable media storms.

Then, while still in South Australia, he initially decided not to play in the exhibition at the last minute, blaming a blister on his right hand.

The reaction was savage and swift, particularly because he withdrew from the Adelaide International 12 months earlier.

Countryman Filip Krajinovic played the first set against Jannik Sinner, only for Djokovic to emerge for the second, seemingly – and belatedly – aware of the bad PR.

However, a different injury is what his 2021 trip will be remembered for.

Up two sets but trailing 1-2 in the third set of his Australian Open third-round clash with American Taylor Fritz, Djokovic received treatment on his abdomen.

He subsequently lost the third and fourth sets, but somehow managed to win the fifth, telling reporters his painkillers had kicked in by then.

Afterwards, Djokovic declared he had sustained “a tear definitely of the muscle”.

He was still uncertain whether he would play his round-of-16 match only three hours before facing Milos Raonic.

Novak Djokovic on his balcony during Adelaide quarantine. Picture: AFP Images

Djokovic still won in four sets, then did the same to Alex Zverev, in a more competitive match in the quarter-finals. By Thursday night’s semi-final, you wouldn’t have even known he was ever injured.

The 17-times grand slam champion won’t reveal his actual diagnosis until after Sunday’s final, but said he played pain-free in beating qualifier Aslan Karatsev.

“I am surprised the way I felt tonight. I think it surpassed, in a way, my greatest wishes and the way I wanted to feel,” he said.

“But, at the same time, I did have kind of similar experiences in the past, where I was managing to recover pretty quickly … (I have) this pretty good way and ability to recover fast.”

After it all, Djokovic is back where he usually is at the Australian Open – competing for another grand slam title.

It probably owes to a combination of his aura of invincibility, bank of experiences and battle-hardened ways, but nothing this summer appears to have dulled his passion for Melbourne.

“The more I win, the better I feel coming back each year,” he said.

“I think it's kind of also logical to expect that. The love affair keeps going.”

Originally published as Novak Djokovic has faced plenty of controversy on his way to a ninth Australian Open final

Updates