Hat-trick seeking Novak causes racket Down Under

Novak Djokovic shelved the conventional preparations for a while, warming up for a shot at a third consecutive Australian Open title with a bit of weekend hit-and-giggle and a ‘Gangnam-Style’ dance with Serena Williams.

That was for kids’ day, when thousands of people flocked to the Rod Laver Arena to see Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka hitting in a just-for-fun match with players including past champions Roger Federer and Williams, a cast of human-sized cartoon characters and a marching band that played the tune to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’

Come today, the No. 1-ranked Djokovic will be back to work, hoping his opener against Paul-Henri Mathieu is the first of seven matches this month at the venue where he’s had the most success in Grand Slam tennis.

His five-set, 5-hour, 53-minute win over Rafael Nadal in the final last year has already been written into Australian Open folklore, and followed his titles in 2008 and 2011.

The fun matches, the joking around and the break from official tournaments in the off-season however, are crucial ingredients to Djokovic’s success, believes the Serb.

“You get time to recover, regroup, recharge your batteries mentally, physically, try to get ready for the new season.

“You come here fresh. You’re motivated and inspired to play some good tennis. This is my most successful Grand Slam. But this Grand Slam is also known for a lot of surprises, players who have been reaching the final stages who are not expected to. We’ll see. The Australian Open always brings something interesting.”

No man has won three successive Australian titles in the Open era, which dates back to 1968 — Jack Crawford (1931-33) and Roy Emerson (1963-67) did it before then. Nine players have won back-to-back titles in the meantime, but were unable to complete the hat-trick. Williams also has three on her mind, as in three majors in-a-row. The No. 3-ranked Williams is a hot favourite to win her sixth Australian Open title after a run of 35 wins in her last 36 matches since a shocking first-round defeat at the French Open. She finished off last year by winning at Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the US Open and the season-ending championships.

There was no Williams-like domination on the men’s side last year, with four players sharing the majors. After losing the Australian final to Djokovic, Nadal captured his seventh French Open title. Federer broke a mini drought when he took the Wimbledon title, his 17th major, fending off Andy Murray in the final. Murray beat Federer for the Olympic gold medal before his career breakthrough at the US Open, where he ended a 76-year drought for British men at the majors. Djokovic is the only leading man in action today, with No. 2 Federer and third-seeded Murray on the opposite side of the draw and not due on court until tomorrow. Nadal is still yet to return to tennis, which has critics and fans speculating on who might capitalise among the other men.

Djokovic, who lost a singles match to Australia’s Bernard Tomic in an exhibition tournament last week, was asked to pick the best of the potential challengers and politely named quite a few.

“It’s probably expected that the three of us, and Nadal of course, would still be main candidates to win all the major titles. But, you know, I wouldn’t underestimate Del Potro, (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga, Ferrer, Berdych, anybody who is in top 10,” he said. “I don’t think it’s nice for me to predict that us three will be champions of all Grand Slams this year.”