MELBOURNE – Novak Djokovic was dragged into a dogfight by talented teenager Dino Prizmic and had to dig deep to open his Australian Open title defence with a 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4 victory in the first round on Jan 14.

At a shade over four hours, it was the veteran’s longest first-round match at a Major and he heaped praise on the Croatian qualifier for his performance in his Grand Slam debut.

“He deserved all the applause and all the credit he got tonight. He’s an amazing player, so mature... he really gave me a run for my money,” Djokovic said.

“It was an amazing performance for a teenager who never had the experience of playing on such a big stage.

“I started well for a 36-year-old. Jeez, if you think about it, I’m double his age. I had some good moments (but) physically I’m still finding myself on the court.”

The Serb, who played his first Australian Open a few months before the Croatian qualifier was born in 2005, initially looked fully in control of the contest on the Rod Laver Arena court where he has won 10 of his 24 Grand Slam titles.

Prizmic had already shown glimpses of the weapons he possesses and broke the top seed with a brilliant cross-court winner early in the second set, forcing Djokovic to raise his game to break straight back.

The 18-year-old world No. 178, who needed a medical timeout to get some strapping on his thigh early in the match, was a man transformed, however, and kept up his level to even up the contest in the tiebreak.

That merely set the tone for an enthralling third set in which Djokovic was put under intense pressure by his athletic opponent, making 20 unforced errors and facing six break points.

Djokovic broke Prizmic at the start but the teenager kept ripping huge forehands and stayed with the world No. 1 in several rallies to put the match back on serve before breaking again for a 3-2 lead after a 15-minute battle of a game.

It had been six years and 28 matches since Djokovic last lost a match at the Australian Open and he was not going to put that record at risk easily.

He regrouped, changed his shirt and won the next four games to take the set, pumping his fist and letting out a huge roar in a tribute to the problems Prizmic had caused him.

More than three hours of playing with one of the best players of all time started to take its toll on Prizmic and Djokovic drove home his advantage to take his 90th win at the Australian Open.

“This is his moment, it could have been his match as well,” Djokovic added.

“Amazing performance for someone who is 18... I certainly want to be in his corner, he’s going to do some big things in his career.”

The next challenge to Djokovic’s bid for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title will come from one of two Australians, Alexei Popyrin or Marc Polmans.

But Djokovic was not the seeded player who struggled the most on Day 1 in Melbourne.

Andrey Rublev said admitting to himself that opponent Thiago Seyboth Wild deserved to beat him helped free his mind and battle back from the brink to reach the second round earlier in the day.

The Russian fifth seed survived an almighty scare to overcome the Brazilian 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (10-6).

He appeared to be cantering through after taking the first two sets of a heavy-hitting encounter on Margaret Court Arena.

But Seyboth Wild refused to lie down and breaks in the third and fourth sets set up a tantalising decider against the two-time quarter-finalist.

As the match reached a dramatic conclusion, Rublev failed to convert four match points on Seyboth Wild’s serve at 5-6 in the fifth set.

But he regained his composure in the decisive tiebreak, rallying from 2-5 to triumph on his fifth match point after three hours and 42 minutes.

The Russian, 26, collapsed to the ground before letting out a guttural roar.

“I was like, OK, he deserves to win,” he said. “At least just finish the match without saying anything, and that’s it.

“And somehow those words gave me a bit of relief. As soon as I (said them I) had a chance, because I was lucky that he didn’t make a first serve, and he served a couple of times second.

“I returned really well and really clean, and I was able to come back. At the end of the tiebreak, I think I played well.”

Rublev will meet Japan’s Taro Daniel or American Christopher Eubanks in the next round.
REUTERS, AFP