Novak Djokovic sneaks in as a questioner at the press conference with Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev’s press conference was actually over when someone else spoke up: “Can I ask a question?” Half of the reporters turned around, annoyed; another person who doesn’t follow the strict journalist protocol at tennis tournaments – and then he doesn’t even sit obediently in the rows of chairs like everyone else, but right at the back, where the cameras are. Who is that bully in the white shirt that’s unbuttoned far too far?

Oh dear, it’s Novak Djokovic!

He was next on the press conference conveyor belt. And that was the opportunity for him to answer the empty questions (“Do you like it in Melbourne?”, “What do you want to achieve?”) and the empty answers (“I love it! Great city, great tournament “, “I want to get as far as possible, I have a lot planned for myself”) to the point of absurdity and to have a bit of fun. It is not for nothing that Djokovic is the “joker” among tennis professionals, the joker.

Only: The gods also blessed Zverev with a lot of humor, so a wonderfully crazy dialogue developed between the two. “Only if you wear sports clothes,” said Zverev, alluding to Djokovic’s Flavio Briatore shirt: “What do you want? You will win your 25th Grand Slam title. We will all be happy. Yes, Novak Djokovic, again,” said Zverev. A tip to which Djokovic had a perfect comic counterattack, but he had to prepare it. His question: “We all know that you love space and the planetary system. What exactly appeals to you about it?” Oh, Zverev may have thought, finally a question that isn’t about why he, the highly gifted person, still hasn’t won a Grand Slam title. “We think we know a lot of things, but we actually know very little,” said Zverev: “Exploring the unknown is what excites me. Is that a good answer?”

It was – because it was the template for the meanness that Djokovic had thought up; He had another question: “Do you think the answer to winning a Grand Slam title lies in space?”

Bamm, that was right – especially because the previous evening, Zverev had stepped in for the slightly injured Nick Kyrgios during the charity ball push, the two had already exchanged tips that Djokovic had far too many and Zverev far too few Grand Slam titles . But the fun wasn’t over yet; Zverev’s counterattack: “The answer to how to win a Grand Slam: that you let me win one.” In fact, Djokovic has won all three Grand Slam duels against Zverev: in Paris in 2019, in Melbourne and New York in 2021.

Zverev, 27, had previously said: “Everyone knows what I’m hunting. Everyone knows my dreams. As number two in the world rankings, you can only have one goal at a Grand Slam: win.” If the counterattacks on the tennis court are as precise as they are in the PK room, then he has the best chance of defeating Djokovic for the first time at a Grand Slam . There could be a duel in the semifinals.

Djokovic makes serious allegations

Elsewhere, however, Djokovic is less humorous. In the GQ Magazine The Serb has once again made strong allegations regarding his deportation from Australia in 2022. He claimed that he was “poisoned” with lead and mercury in his food before his expulsion from the country. “I had some health problems. “I realized that I was given food in the hotel in Melbourne that poisoned me,” said the 37-year-old in the interview, which he said he gave several months ago. “I never said this publicly, but when I returned to Serbia it was discovered that I had very high levels of heavy metals in my blood.” Contaminated food during his involuntary detention in Australia was the “only possible explanation” for this.

A spokesman for Australia’s Department of Home Affairs told AFP that he could not comment on individual cases “for privacy reasons.” However, the statement said that a lease agreement with the hotel where Djokovic was being held at the time provided for “freshly cooked, individually portioned lunches and dinners for prisoners.” Djokovic stressed in Melbourne that he had “no grudges” against the Australian people despite the 2022 controversies. “Many Australians apologized to me – and the government gave me a visa again the following year,” said Djokovic.