Honesty is a rare thing in professional sport. That is not to say that all top athletes tell porky pies, it is just that most of them are a little economical with the truth.
Not Adrian Mannarino, though. When he faced the French reporters prior to his second round encounter with Novak Djokovic, he was honest to the point of bluntness. Not for him the tried and trusted line: “If I do not believe I can win, there is no point in me walking on court”. No, when he was asked if he could beat the current champion of Wimbledon, the US, Australian and French Opens, he fessed up. “There is no chance,” he said, straight-faced and without a hint of levity. “There is no solution.”
In Mannarino’s view, only injury, act of God or tying Djokovic’s shoelaces together was going to save him on Centre Court. And so it proved: Djokovic won at a canter 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5).
This was the champion’s 30th consecutive Grand Slam match win, an eyewatering level of consistency at this elite level. Was he surprised at just how well he was doing? “Well, no,” Djokovic said. “I do have a lot of expectations. But I am very grateful I can compete at such a consistent level.”
The world No.1 has now spent just over four hours on court, he has not dropped a set and has only dropped his serve twice. As starts to a title defence go, he could not be happier, although at times under the roof, it was hard to tell.
Putting a lid on Centre Court does alter the conditions a little – it is more humid for a start – and Djokovic was struggling to keep his footing along the baseline. When he landed on his fundament in the tie-break, the crowd tittered but he most certainly did not. He was not happy with that at all. Then there were the fluffed errors – they drew a look of bitter frustration as if he had just blown match point. But there is a lot at stake for the world No.1 in the coming couple of months.
No sooner had he won his first French Open title three weeks ago, so completing his career Grand Slam, than he was thinking about the Grand Slam proper. No one has done that since Rod Laver in 1969 but the Serb is the only man on the planet with the chance to do it now. To most, it is the impossible dream; to Djokovic it is within his reach.
“I don't want to sound arrogant, but I really think everything is achievable in life,” he said in Paris. “Whether or not I can reach a calendar slam, that's still a possibility.”
So, with much still to do, Djokovic did not want to expend any unnecessary energy in dealing with his French opponent. The world No.55 may be a perfectly good player but he was not welcome for more than the three sets Djokovic intended to take advancing to the third round.
Mannarino likes to keep himself to himself – he is not one of the flashier souls on the tour – and for him, image is nothing. Yet you may have noticed he is decked out exclusively in products of a rather famous American clothing company. This is not a highly paid sponsorship deal but, rather, a personal preference. Every shirt, every pair of shorts and, most importantly of all, every cap is paid for out of the Frenchman’s pocket.
Those caps are a bit of an issue. Mannarino has an unusually small head (the brain inside it works overtime; he is a bright chap is Mannarino) and so he must wear boys’ caps rather than those built for grown-ups. And the small titfers are hard to find. If he loses one or wears it out it can be, as he explained, “a problem for my game”. Fortunately, he had the appropriate head gear to give himself a chance against Djokovic but it was still not enough.
The Frenchman relies on timing rather than power and enjoys playing a cat-and-mouse game with his opponents. But when he is taking on the best player in the world, a man who has made a hobby of winning the major championships, he needed a bit more oomph. The shots, when they come off, are entertaining to watch and some are a positive delight to see but they were never going to be more than a minor irritation to the world No.1.
What was truly annoying Djokovic was his inability to supress Mannarino. He served for the match and let the game slip from his grasp – another two double faults bringing his tally to eight in all were the problem. Then there was the duff forehand on match point in the tie-break – this was not the neat and tidy end Djokovic was looking for.
Not that any of it mattered: the world No.1 was on his way to the third round and as Mannarino had pointed out 24 hours before, there was “no chance” of anyone stopping him.
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