Novak Djokovic was a victim of bad luck not poor scheduling at the Australian Open, says Peter Fleming.
Draw worked against Djokovic this time, says Peter Fleming
While I have some sympathy for Novak Djokovic following his Australian Open retirement, my advice to him is simple: suck it up and move on.
The basic demands of a tennis tournament are strenuous and while a gap of just 37 hours between two tough matches is not ideal it was a case of bad luck for the Serb this time around rather than poor organisation by officials in Melbourne.
I understand Djokovic asked for his quarter-final against Andy Roddick to be re-scheduled as a night match to give him more time to prepare and I don't blame him for that.
To finish his fourth-round match against Marcos Baghdatis as late as he did - 2:26am on Monday morning - clearly had a debilitating effect on the defending champion but it goes with the territory.
These guys play a three, four or five-hour match and then are expected to come back two days later and do it all again. Compare that to footballers. If they have a tough 90-minute match they complain about playing three days later.
Big business
Yes, tennis is hard work and sometimes some guys just get a better draw than other guys. The bottom line is that when you get to the quarter-finals you know how the schedule stacks up.
I'm sure the players are listened to but at some point tournament organisers have to factor in all the different variables, such as international television contracts - tennis is big business now.
In many ways I agree with Roddick's suggestion that as the women players now receive the same prize money as the men, they shouldn't always be guaranteed the early match in the night session.
He has a point - they are making the same money, so there is no reason why they shouldn't make the same sacrifices. I have no qualms about that.
I don't see why that isn't taken into consideration but I guess the tournament directors want to give everyone the opportunity to see two matches.
Just champion
Djokovic would do well to follow the example of Andy Murray, who over the last week has carried himself like a champion and surely it is only a matter of time before he enjoys major success.
Andy's grown unbelievably in the last 12 months; he's a different guy from the one he was a year ago and all credit to him. He is definitely on the right track.
The biggest change has been his mental approach to the game and his life on the circuit; the guy is so much more relaxed and comfortable in his own skin and it shows on the court.
He clearly didn't play his best against Fernando Verdasco on Monday and perhaps the simple truth is that the Spaniard played better than Andy expected.
On a roll
Verdasco's first serve percentage came in at 74 which over five sets is ridiculous. If he can get anywhere near that on a consistent basis then it will prove that he is getting to grips with some of the demons that have tormented him over the last few years.
If that's the case there's no reason why he won't be in the top 10 for a long while as he's an incredibly talented player. There's no question this could be a big year for Verdasco; he seems to have turned a corner.
He was always a threat but got really nervous in the big situations - but having won the last match in the Davis Cup final and now having beaten Andy, who has won a lot of matches before with a 61 percent first serve, he's on a roll.
Keep your eyes on British teenager Laura Robson too - she's a very good player and it will be interesting to see how she continues to develop with the eyes of the tennis world on her.
She seemed to handle it incredibly well on the way to last year's Wimbledon junior title and I will be watching with interest to see if she can continue to grow because she might be seeded fifth in Australia but she is better than most of the juniors at present.
