Djokovic lets his game do the talking in Australia
NOVAK Djokovic got back to doing what he does best on Monday when he steam-rolled Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3 6-1 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena in the opening round of the Australian Open.
Having come through two weeks of quarantine in Adelaide, and a brief but damaging spat with his hosts about the strict isolation conditions placed on competitors in Melbourne, the World number 1 let his tennis do the talking as he eased to a 297th Grand Slam victory.
Djokovic has won eight of his 17 major titles on Melbourne Park’s main show-court and, even with a smaller crowd than usual, the Serbian looked very much at home on the distinctive blue surface. “There’s an ongoing love affair with me and this court,” he said to cheers from the fans. “I’ve been lucky to have so much success on this court and hopefully it will continue for many years. It makes my heart full to see so many people in the stadium. This is the most people I’ve seen on a tennis court in 12 months. Thank you.”
Djokovic brought a definitive end to the one-sided contest with back-to-back aces after 91 minutes, and will next play American world number 64 Frances Tiafoe in the second round.
Dominic Thiem was relieved to find form when it counted as he fended off Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6(2) 6-2 6-3 to reach the second round after piecemeal preparations ahead of the Grand Slam. It seemed the US Open champion had not fully shaken off the rust on Monday as Kazakh Kukushkin broke him twice in the opening set at Rod Laver Arena, and pushed within a point of taking it at 6-5.
But third seed Austrian Thiem nullified the threat and dominated the tiebreak before rolling on to an encouraging win.
“Yeah, definitely I felt nerves because it was a long time until the Slam, more than three weeks from when we arrived to Adelaide,” he said.
“If I practise too many days in a row, I start to play worse again, instead of better. I didn’t really know where I’m standing at. And I also faced an opponent today who is tough to play, especially in these conditions. I’m happy how I did it and how I came through.”
In the women’s draw, Serena Williams put on a vintage display of power tennis to ease into the second round with a 6-1 6-1 drubbing of Germany’s Laura Siegemund.
After losing her first service game, it was business as usual for Williams as she routed her opponent with thumping serves and howitzer forehands.
“I was happy just to get through it,” she told reporters. “Wasn’t sure how my serve would be after a little bit of that shoulder, but it’s feeling good, I’m feeling good. So it felt really good.”
Next up for Williams in that quest is a second-round tie against Serbian Nina Stojanovic.
Naomi Osaka gave the Australian Open’s electronic line judges her seal of approval after advancing to the second round with a machinelike 6-1 6-2 demolition of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Triple Grand Slam champion Osaka said it had taken time to get used to the system, but she would be happy for it to be adopted at other tournaments.
“I feel like for me, it saves me the trouble of attempting to challenge or thinking about, ‘Did they call it correctly or not?’,” the Japanese third seed told reporters.
“It actually gets me really focused. I don’t mind it at all.”