14 January 2024 , 15:42
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Novak Djokovic showed his class after defeating Dino Prizmic in the opening round of the 2024 Australian Open.
The world number one was made to work for the win, after dropping the second set to the Croatian. Djokovic took the first set with relative ease and appeared to be on the way to a routine victory, before the 18-year-old phenom fought back in the second.
Djokovic dropped the second set on a tiebreak, leaving fans thinking the upset was on. The Serb turned on the style in the third and fourth, however, to progress to the second round with a 6-2, 7-6(5-7), 6-3, 6-4 win.
The overwhelming tournament favourite didn't have things all his own way, however, and made no secret of that afterwards as he heaped praise on the beaten teen. Instead, he called for the camera operator on court to focus on Prizmic and motioned for fans inside the stadium to applaud him.
He told his on-court interview: "I mean... he deserved every applause, every credit he got tonight. He's an amazing player, I must say. So mature for his age, he handled himself and the court incredibly well. This is his moment, honestly, and it could have been his match as well, he was a break up in the third.
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"He fought, even though he was 4-0 down and a break point down, 5-0 down, he fought, he showed great mentality, resilience, he made me really run fore my money. I have many many praises for him, many compliments, I'll be talking about him later to deconstruct his game.
Novak Djokovic was quick to divert attention away from himself (Eurosport)"I liked the way he's using every inch of the court, he's comfortable coming in, he's defending incredibly well. An amazing performance for someone who is 18, never had experience of playing a big stage, big kudos to him, his team, his family.
"I certainly want to be in his corner. Hopefully he'll invite me because he's going to make some big things in his future, that's for sure! We're going to see a lot of him in the future, that's for sure."
Djokovic now faces a wait to discover his opponent for the second round, with home town favourite Alexi Popyrin facing Marc Palmans in the first round on Monday night local time.