PARIS — Sh! Don’t say a word. Novak Djokovic is perfect so far in 2011, and superstition demands silence, lest he be jinxed.
Djokovic himself insists he isn’t keeping tabs on his unbeaten run, which reached 38-0 this season — and 40 consecutive victories dating to December — thanks to a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 win over Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands in the first round of the French Open on Monday.
“I’m not counting,” the second-seeded Djokovic said with a smile. “I’m not trying to think about the streak that I have, even though it’s definitely something that makes me proud.”
Others certainly are thinking about it. Indeed, it’s the talk of the year’s second Grand Slam tournament.
The Serb is closing in on the Open era record for best start to a tennis season by a man, John McEnroe’s 42-0 in 1984. He’s also only the sixth man in the Open era to win 40 matches in a row; Guillermo Vilas set the high of 46 in 1977. But Djokovic’s pals on tour aren’t exactly making a big deal about it at the moment.
“In the beginning — I know him very well — I’d kind of joke, ‘Hey, let someone else win.’ . . . Now you almost stay away. It’s almost like a pitcher going for a no-hitter,” said the highest-seeded American, No. 10 Mardy Fish, who beat Ricardo Mello of Brazil 6-2, 6-7 (11), 6-2, 6-4. “I don’t want to say anything about it.”
