Novak Djokovic doubts the purists will ever relive the halcyon days of serve-volley tennis.
But he admits such daring exponents can make his Australian Open title defence just that little bit more uncomfortable.
Djokovic takes on Milos Raonic on Wednesday for a place in the semi-finals and says having his toughest test to date against classy serve-volleyer Gilles Muller in the previous round was a nice tune-up for the Canadian’s supersonic delivery.
“Obviously it helps in terms of having this commitment and focus for the return,” Djokovic said after his hard-earned 6-4 7-5 7-5 win over Muller.
“He takes away the time from the opponent. His serves and volleys, very difficult serve to read.”
Australian serve-volleyer Sam Groth also enjoyed a career-best run at Melbourne Park, while Stefan Edberg’s encouragement of Roger Federer to venture forward more has prompted other players to start nudging their way to the net.
Djokovic said it was a “good question” when asked what the future held for serve-volleyers, who once dominated the game but were now seen as throwbacks in the era of the baseline power game.
“It really depends how the technology is going to advance,” said the world No.1.
“What are we going to do with the balls as well? Are they going to become faster or slower?
“My subjective feeling for the Australian Open, I talked to many players, the last two years the courts or the balls, something out of these two elements have speeded up the game here in Australia.
“It plays faster. It allows the servers to have more free points, come to the net.”
On cold nights, like Monday was, when the ball doesn’t bounce very much, Djokovic said serve-volleyers could make him even more uncomfortable with chip-charge tennis.
“That’s what serve-and-volley players do. You don’t get to see that many serve-and-volley players these days,” Djokovic said.
Raonic’s serve alone will make Djokovic uncomfortable as he eyes a 25th grand slam semi-final appearance.
Apart from crunching a tournament-best 99 aces in his first four matches, Raonic is landing his first delivery – upwards of 225km/h – at 72 per cent.
Perhaps most disconcertingly, the eighth seed has won 71 of his 73 service games and only faced seven break points all championship.
“Tough one, definitely a tough one. I need to be at my best, top of my game, in order to win that match,” Djokovic said.
“I played Milos, finals of Bercy last time (in October). I know what to expect. We practise a lot. We live in the same place. We’re good friends.
“He’s very confident. He’s been playing some great tennis in last 15 months. He deserves to be where he is now, top 10, coming closer to top five of the world.”
Djokovic, though, has beaten Raonic on all four previous occasions and is in a positive frame of mind having not lost a set en route to the quarter-finals.
“That is a very encouraging fact,” the Serb said.
The winner will meet fourth-seeded defending champion Stan Wawrinka or Japan’s fifth seed and US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori in the last four.
HOW NOVAK DJOKOVIC AND MILOS RAONIC MATCH UP FOR THEIR AUSTRALIAN OPEN QUARTER-FINAL:
1-NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) leads 8-MILOS RAONIC (CAN) 4-0
* 2014 Paris Masters, hard, F, Djokovic 6-2 6-3
* 2014 French Open, clay, QF, Djokovic 7-5 7-6 6-4
* 2014 Rome Masters, clay, SF, Djokovic 6-7 7-6 6-3
* 2013 Davis Cup, clay, SF, Djokovic 7-6 6-2 6-2
NOVAK DJOKOVIC:
* Age: 27
* Ranking: 1
* Plays: right-handed (two-handed backhand)
* Career prize money: $US72,403,908 ($A91.45 million)
* Career titles: 48
* Grand slam titles: 7 (Australian Open 2008, 2011-2013; Wimbledon 2011, 2014; US Open 2011)
* Australian Open win-loss record: 47-6
* Best Australian Open performances: champion 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013
MILOS RAONIC:
* Age: 24
* Ranking: 8
* Plays: right-handed (two-handed backhand)
* Career prize money: $US7,356,349 ($A9.3 million)
* Career titles: 6
* Grand slam titles: 0
* Australian Open win-loss record: 14-4
* Best Australian Open performances: quarter-finalist 2015
