Novak Djokovic in world of his own as mental armour repels all opposition | Emma Kemp

Novak Djokovic touched his finger to his temple after winning the Australian Open from within his own vacuum

Stefanos Tsitsipas has always had a Novak Djokovic problem. It was a lost-the-last-nine-matches type of problem – not the archetypal self-affirmation statistic for his bathroom mirror. Now it is 10 and he is no less of a competitor for it, merely the latest victim of a champion who, in Tsitsipas’s own post-match words, is “the greatest that has ever held a tennis racket”.

At least he is not alone. A lot of people have a Djokovic problem, and the list is not limited to other players (though 22 grand slam singles titles means there are many of those). The public, the media, even Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia have all spent the past two weeks examining the Serb with a level of suspicion reserved for one of sport’s most divisive figures.