Melbourne [Australia], January 14 : The World No.1 Novak Djokovic made a winning start to his quest for a record-extending 11th Australian Open title with a 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 triumph against Dino Prizmic in first-round on Sunday.
Djokovic, in typical manner, dialled in from there, winning the next eight games and all but extinguishing his youthful opponent's prospects of pulling off a shocking upset. The Serbian played his best tennis of the match in the latter stages to outlast a tired Prizmic, though the Croatian saved six match chances before Djokovic sealed victory.
"He deserved every applause, every credit that he got tonight. He's an amazing player, so mature for his age and he handled himself on the court incredibly well," Djokovic said of Prizmic as quoted by ATP.
"This is his moment, honestly. It could easily have been his match as well. He was a break up in the third, he fought even though he was 0-4 and a break point down [in the fourth set]. He fought. He showed great mentality and resilience. He really made me run for my money tonight."
Prizmic looked to relax and begin to impose himself against his more experienced opponent. Despite giving up a 3-1 lead in the second set, the Croatian created a 6/2 advantage in the tie-break and stayed strong to convert his fourth set point, changing the course of the match.
Despite breaking Djokovic's serve twice in a row to recover from 0-2 to 3-2 in the third set, Prizmic was unable to sustain his lead. Despite his late troubles to convert match points, the 98-time tour-level champion Djokovic lifted his game and was fairly comfortable as he sealed a victory with 40 winners, including nine aces.
"I started off very well... I'm really trying to enjoy every moment on the court. Obviously, I struggled at many different moments tonight, but credit to him. Due to his incredible gameplan, he just had an answer for everything. He was very physical," said Djokovic.
"I had good moments. Some moments wish I could have played better and maybe more aggressive, but I haven't played here in a year, and it was a very short off-season, so physically I'm still finding myself out there on the court. Now I have a couple of days until my next match, so hopefully I'll be at my best for my next match," he added.
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