He’s 38, he got lucky, yet the G.O.A.T. is still there at the Australian Open

MELBOURNE – “If he swagger, let him not come here,” cried a character in William Shakespeare’s play, Henry IV, Part 2. Swagger for the playwright, who popularised the word, meant an insolent strut. Yet centuries later the Australian Open is rife with swaggerers, but these aren’t swaying rascals but just athletic fellows putting their confidence on parade.

In an on-court chat with Ben Shelton this week, the incisive interviewer Jim Courier laughingly discussed the swagger of players off court. Shelton, grinned Courier, clearly had some. But No. 1 on the list was Novak Djokovic. GOATs naturally have their own self-assured walk. You know, like fellows who own the game.