Australian Open: jostled by the 178th in the world, Djokovic avoids shipwreck

2024-01-14 15:40:10

Although he likes long matches, Novak Djokovic certainly did not expect to suffer so much. Opposed to the modest Dino Prizmic, 178th in the world, barely an adult and without any Grand Slam experience, the Serbian reached the second round of the Australian Open, not without difficulty (6-2, 6-7 [5], 6-3, 6-4). The world number 1 was particularly put in great difficulty in the second and third rounds, in a 4-hour duel.

Djokovic made no mistake, pointing to his opponent of the day as a tribute to the public. He gave him a standing ovation after the meeting. “He deserves a lot of plaudits for what he’s done, he’s an incredible player. Playing like that at his age, being everywhere on the court… He showed a very good mentality and a lot of resilience, he will certainly do great things in his career,” greeted the Serb after the match.

49 unforced errors and 6 misplaced match points

Everything started well for “Nole”, an easy winner of the first set (6-2) in what we thought would be a one-sided match. But after this baptism of fire, the young Prizmic subsequently became uninhibited and made the Serb suffer. In the middle of a tight set, the young Croatian managed to break in the fourth game before beating Djokovic on his favorite playground, the tie-break (7-6 [5]). It was already an achievement, since the Djoker had lost only one of his last 51 sets played in the first round in Melbourne.

Not impressed at all by a player who was already playing the Australian Open before his birth, in August 2005, Prizmic continued to heckle Djokovic in a third round that was tighter than the score suggests (6-3). It actually took 71 minutes for Djokovic to regain the advantage, in a set marked by 20 unforced errors on his part. This waste was a constant throughout this match (49 in total). “Physically, I’m still finding myself,” admitted the Serb.

Still superior athletically, against an opponent never tested in such a long match, the Serb finally made the difference in the fourth set, again not without difficulty. Even though he was leading 4-0, it ultimately took him six match points and more than an hour to overcome the tough Prizmic (6-4), eliminated with his head held high by the ten-time winner of the Open d ‘Australia.