Novak Djokovic still the master of tactical injury and immaculate recovery

All hail Novak Djokovic, the greatest tennis player in all of history. (That was the po-faced bit. He is.)

But where does a man go once he is the greatest? This world is not enough. From here, you must also be the most Christ-like, the most sinned-against, the most aggrieved, the most heroic in overcoming injury, the trickiest, the fakest, the truest, the realest, the thinnest of skin and thickest of will, the greatest in every imaginable direction. Only one man matches Novak in all these respects, and he is otherwise engaged, issuing executive orders from on high.

Novak Djokovic recovered ... again. Credit: Nathan Perri

The great one has already changed tennis, making aspects of gamesmanship a regular part of the professional toolkit. Want to irritate your opponent into nervous collapse? Bounce that ball before serving, until … no, wait, there’s another few bounces. It’s killing them just to think about it.

The tennis tantrum predated Novak and was much more extreme in the 1980s. But the tactical tantrum – that’s his intellectual property. It’s followed by the tactical celebration, the tactical condescension and the tactical post-match interview. You will love me! If it annoys the spectator, imagine what it has done to generations of tennis players.

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