Novak harassed? You’ve got to be Djoking

Novak Djokovic of Serbia looks at his racquet during a practice session before he was deported on Sunday.Picture: William West/AFP

The honour roll of great tennis players would be a lot shorter without the contribution of so many talented Australians. Laver, Emerson, Stolle, Newcombe, Roche and Cash stand out as the great singles players, while the two Woodies — Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde — could lay claim to the title of best doubles pairing in the history of tennis.

Then Europe discovered tennis and built indoor courts in every town and Australia’s crown wobbled.

Ash Barty became the best in the world of women’s tennis and continues to dominate her opponents.

Paul McNamee and Peter MacNamara made a formidable doubles pairing and were no slouches when it came to singles, either. Australia ruled the tennis roost for many years. We played above our weight and did so with distinction.

Camelot didn’t last, and neither did our dominance.

The fairy tale to end, and when it did a long drought was sure to follow.

Alex de Minaur is now our best player, and he mostly rates in the world’s top 20.

Barty our crowning glory

Barty holds Australia’s end up and is unchallenged as the world’s number one women’s tennis player. Her demeanour and graciousness have endeared her to millions of fans all over the world.

One of the reasons for our fall in tennis rankings has to be the loss of tennis courts to the building of home units. We may be better housed, but we produce fewer quality tennis players.

The return and rise in the rankings of the Adelaide-born Thanasi Kokkinakis is a reward for hard work and persistence. He has faced one injury after another, hampering his time on court. His booming 200km/h service excites the fans and is a reminder of our tennis heritage. No Australian has won the Australian Open since Mark Edmondson in 1976 and his win was regarded as a fluke because he didn’t win anything else. This long drought does not look like being broken anytime soon.

… and then there’s Novak

Success inevitably creates interest and in our case that interest has been maintained despite our recent drought in producing world class men’s tennis players. That interest is naturally now focused on world number 1 Novak Djokovic. His anti-vaccination stance is infuriating because of its ignorance and stupidity. He gives succour and comfort to those anti-vaxxers who seem determined to make the outcome for Covid-19 as bad as they possibly can.

Despite my Labor background, I must say that the Prime Minister has acted promptly and correctly in seeking to have this arrogant, pampered clown thrown out.

Role models are risky business

Sports stars are often cast as role models for our kids, but this can be a risky business. Anyone watching the performance of our AFL and NRL stars knows this only too well. Talent and ability in a sport is not always matched by character development. Back in the 60s when the St George Rugby League team was winning every championship, I can recall one very famous representative player breaking a woman’s jaw in the lounge bar at the Surfer’s Paradise Hotel. The legendary administrator Frank Facer produced $2000 in cash (a huge sum at the time) and the problem went away. Today that player would have been charged, convicted and would have lost his career.

The President of Serbia has labelled Australia’s treatment of his most famous citizen as “harassment”. In the famous phrase of John McEnroe, “He’s got to be kidding”. From more than 10,000km away he dares to comment on affairs beyond his ken. As far as most Australians are concerned this match is over. Morrison wins 6-0,6-0,6-0.