This is not a pair I would have chosen for purposes of “compare and contrast”.

It was our colleague, Osman Samiuddin who did it for me.

Novak Djokovic and Ned Flanders.

In a comment piece that will appear in the Tuesday editions of The National, Osman suggests the two personalities — one real, one a product of The Simpsons — may have much in common.

Osman traces this back to the eighth episode of Season 8, when the writers of The Simpson gave us an “origins” story pertaining to Ned Flanders, the sunny, church-going do-gooder who lives next door to Homer.

I like The Simpsons, but I’d guess I have not seen at least half of the canon. And now looking at the wiki page (linked above) I see that the cartoon is in its 26th season, with 564 episodes … and I am going to change that to “not seen at least three-quarters” of those.

In the episode entitled “Hurricane Neddy”, we find out, as Osman relates, that Ned was a hellion as a child, and his bad behavior was eradicated only after he was given eight months of continuous spankings.

That variety of aversion therapy turned Flanders into the by-the-book upright citizen he is today, which is where Osman shifts our gaze to the world’s No. 1 tennis player.

He is correct, I believe, in saying we don’t really know Novak Djokovic, which is a bit odd considering how much time he has spent on our television screens over the past decade, and especially the past 5-6 years.

Osman notes that of the Big Four at the top of the men’s game for the past four or five seasons, Djokovic is easily the most inscrutable. Roger Federer as aloof genius. Rafael Nadal as a win-or-die competitor. Andy Murray as an overachiever with a fragile interior, likely to crumble when a few breaks go against him. (As they did in the Australian Open final on Sunday.)

But Djokovic? What is he about?

Osman recalls that Djokovic was known, fairly often, as “Joker”, when he was fighting to break up the Federer-Nadal duopoly at the top of the men’s game. He told humorous stories. He did imitations. He lost regularly to Roger and Rafa.

He is still a loquacious guy, in interview settings, but he is no longer some sort of fun-loving guy who at times seemed ready to embrace a sort of sporting anarchy.

Now, he’s the guy who is tightly controlled under all circumstances, who neither talks to himself or abuses rackets. He just grinds out points, defeating most everyone with his extraordinary conditioning as well as his skill.

Osman notes that, like Flanders, keeping his inner monolog inside must require some energy, and that someday we may yet see what is going on inside Novak Djokovic’s head.

“The Joker” may yet reappear. Or something else entirely. We have to wait and see.