(Tennis news) Novak Djokovic took a three week break after winning the Australian Open, which was his 22nd Grand Slam of his career and looked rusty against Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 7-6 (1) in the Dubai Tennis Championships. The Serbian tennis star made plenty of mistakes in the second set, especially with his forehand looking uncharacteristically wayward but he turned it around in the second set while Machac was troubled by his wrist. 22 year old Machac produced some fantastic tennis to go from a break down to level at 4-4 and forced a final-set tie-break but Djokovic stepped up at a crucial time to secure the victory.
In the on-court interview after the match, Novak Djokovic said “Tomas definitely didn’t play like 130 in the world today. He was giving me all kinds of trouble, but I guess when it mattered I found another gear. Physically you can always be better, I demand the highest of standards. I did struggle with injury for several weeks and it took me a little bit of time to really get used to holding a racket. I haven’t played much tennis, so I’m hoping as the tournament progresses I can raise the level.”
In other results, Britain’s Dan Evans lasted four games against Borna Coric before being forced to pull out of the first round match due to injury. Evans had a strap on his right ankle and called a trainer when the score was 2-2 and managed to hit only one more serve before pulling out. The 32 year old has won only one of his seven singles matches on the ATP Tour in 2023 and reached the third round of the Australian Open. Daniil Medvedev defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-2, thereby extending his winning run to 10 matches. Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated American Maxime Cressy 7-6 (4) 3-6 6-3 while sixth seed Karen Khachanov fell 7-5 6-2 to Botic Van De Zandschulp.
Also read: Andy Murray rules himself out of the Dubai Tennis Championships
