A ‘rusty’ Djokovic sends a warning
If this was Novak Djokovic at his “rusty” best then the rest of the world has plenty to worry about after the Serbian star kicked off his Australian Open preparations with a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over China’s Zhang Zhizhen at the United Cup.
It was a fitting way for Djokovic to end 2023 with yet another win given he claimed three of the four grand slams, with the veteran looking to add an 11th Australian Open crown in the coming weeks.
It wasn’t the smoothest performance of his career, but it took him just over an hour to put away his opponent before he backed up in the doubles to help his country win the tie 2-1.
“I was a little bit rusty at the beginning. I was out of the tempo, rhythm for maybe the first five, six games,” Djokovic said.
“But that’s normal when you don’t play an official match for over a month. It takes a little bit of time to get the engines going.
“He was serving well, he had nothing much to lose.
“When I broke his serve at 3-2 in the first set, I felt the momentum shift to my side.”
Serbia will top Group E and qualify for the quarter-finals if it beats the Czech Republic in Perth, with Djokovic keen to get more match practice under his belt before he heads to Melbourne.
While Djokovic capped off a stunning 2023 with a victory, Rafael Nadal was simply relieved to get through his final match of what had been a frustrating year ruined by injuries.
The Spanish legend had been out for nearly 12 months but got through his doubles match at the Brisbane International unscathed.