tennis
Djokovic in Melbourne with a lot of effort in round two
Is in round two in Melbourne: Novak Djokovic. photo
© Alessandra Tarantino/AP/dpa
Novak Djokovic is wobbling worryingly on his favorite spot. In the end, he finds a way to avert the sensation at the Australian Open.
Defending champion It was very difficult for Novak Djokovic to avoid an early exit from the Australian Open.
The world number one from Serbia defeated Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic 6:2, 6:7 (5:7), 6:3, 6:4 in Melbourne and moved into the second round of his favorite Grand Slam a. Djokovic would have been the first defending champion since Boris Becker in 1997 to be eliminated in the first round.
Djokovic (36), who has already won the first Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season ten times, showed unusual weaknesses in the Rod Laver Arena. After winning the first set easily, he made numerous slight mistakes and the 18-year-old Prizmic suddenly played big.
In the third set, Djokovic was already a break behind, but then fought his way back into the game and turned the round in his favor. This meant that the resistance of Prizmic, who won the junior competition at the French Open in Paris last year and made his Grand Slam men’s debut in Melbourne, was broken for the time being.
29th win in a row in Melbourne
Djokovic quickly moved ahead to 4-0 in the fourth set. Although Prizmic fought back, after 4:01 hours the 24-time Grand Slam tournament champion converted his seventh match point. It was his 29th win in a row in Melbourne. Djokovic won the title Down Under in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023. In 2022 he was not allowed to compete in Melbourne because of his lack of a corona vaccination.