DJOKOVIC ‘VERY, VERY HAPPY’
Serbian pleased with himself after winning outing
NOVAK Djokovic made a resounding return yesterday after six months out with an elbow injury, declaring he felt “great” after beating World No 5 Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4 at the Kooyong Classic.
The Serbian 12-time Grand Slam winner was in good form, and full of optimism, after his first competitive outing since losing a Wimbledon quarter-final to Tomas Berdych last July.
“I feel great, I was eager to get onto the court,” he said after playing with a flesh-coloured sleeve on his right arm.
“I had a great opponent, it was a test for me to see where I am, how the work we did pays off on court. It worked pretty well.”
The former World No 1, who will be chasing a record seventh Australian Open crown next week, had pulled out of a warm-up Abu Dhabi tournament, raising concerns over whether he would be fit enough to play at Melbourne Park.
“There was a doubt, especially after I pulled out of the first week of the year,” he admitted.
“I personally didn’t know what’s going to happen. We did some treatment and obviously gave it a lot of thought. Luckily for me I’m here and so I’m hoping in the next four, five days everything will go well and I’ll be ready for the Open.”
While pleased at his progress, Djokovic, who has dropped to 14 in the world, admitted he still had work to do ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year.
“I don’t want to be over-confident, but I’m very, very happy with how it went today,” added the 30-year-old.
“I don’t say I’m at 100 percent, I can only say that when I get the feel of a tournament. Ideally I would have had another tournament before the start of the Open, but it was not meant to be.
“I’ll take whatever I can — one or two matches here will be good preparation.”
Australian Matthew Ebden, back on court after an injurymarred 2017, defeated Marin Cilic 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 7-5 in another match at the exhibition tournament.