(Football news) In round one, the world no. 1 won an exciting four-set match against Croatian youth Dino Prizmic, and Popyrin upset fellow countryman Marc Polmans in straight sets.
During his incredible match against Prizmic, who was born seven months after the Serbian played in the main draw of the Australian Open, Djokovic glimpsed glimmers of his younger self and reached the four-hour mark in a Grand Slam first-round match for the first time in his career.
Djokovic would have been quite proud of Prizmic’s brilliant defensive performance if he hadn’t been on the other side of the net. However, the 36-year-old’s experience and mental toughness prevailed in a 6-2 6-7[5] 6-3 6-4 victory, even though he made 49 unintentional errors during the match.
Djokovic wasted six match points before finally eliminating his inexperienced opponent on the seventh try. After being pushed on the brink by Prizmic, who was ultimately defeated on the service tally, he offered some words of support and sympathy at the net.
Djokovic added another record to his ever-expanding collection with his eleven aces, four more than Prizmic’s double-fault counter. He is currently the only male player in the Open Era to have at least ninety victories in three different Grand Slam tournaments.
Following his first-round triumph, Djokovic broke the record for the most Grand Slam matches won without losing to qualifiers, surpassing even Serena Williams. He has only once lost in the second round of the Australian Open, to Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in 2017.
In an attempt to emulate Istomin and send cheers roaring through the Rod Laver Arena, world number 43 Popyrin marched to a far more routine victory 6-3 7-6[3] 6-2 over fellow Australian Polmans in his opening match. Popyrin needed two hours and twenty-eight minutes to win.
