Novak Djokovic poses for a selfie with followers after profitable his first-round match in opposition to Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The supportive indicators and dozens of Serbian flags and loud chants of Novak Djokovic’s nickname crammed Rod Laver Arena, offering a heat welcome marking his return to the Australian Open — a event he has dominated prior to now however one he couldn’t enter a 12 months in the past.
Djokovic acknowledged the greeting with a fast wave of his left hand when he stepped out onto the courtroom at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, then bought all the way down to business by taking part in fairly nicely and solely briefly displaying a touch of bother from the balky left hamstring that was closely taped.
With his mother and father and brother within the stands at Melbourne Park for the primary time since he gained his first Grand Slam title there 15 years in the past, Djokovic started the first-round match with an ace at 125 mph (201 kph). He held at love there, took management of that set with a 12-point run and was on his option to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Seventy fifth-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena that completed after midnight.
“Unbelievable atmosphere. Thank you so much for staying this late, everybody. Also, thank you for giving me such a welcoming and a reception I can only dream of,” Djokovic advised the group in an on-court interview. “I really feel very happy that I’m back in Australia and I’m back here on the court where I had the biggest success in my career.”
Djokovic’s participation is without doubt one of the chief story traces, maybe the MAIN one, of the primary Grand Slam event of 2023. That’s as a result of Djokovic by no means bought to play some extent final season on the website of 9 of his main championships, as a result of his visa was blocked and he was deported from Australia after a authorized saga tied to his lack of any vaccination for COVID-19.
He by no means did get the pictures and in addition missed the U.S. Open due to it. But Australia’s authorities has since relaxed coronavirus-related restrictions, permitting Djokovic to return to the nation, and in addition waived a rule that would have stopped him from getting in for 3 years following a visa revocation. He has insisted that complete episode in January 2022 deeply affected him however that he doesn’t maintain a grudge; there actually didn’t appear to be any arduous emotions towards him Tuesday.
Spectators who politely applauded Carballes Baena when he entered the stadium stood and roared for the 35-year-old Djokovic. A sing-song, soccer-style chant of “Olé, olé, olé, olé!” followed by the two-syllable moniker “Nole!” (pronounced NO-leh) echoed beneath the sector’s closed retractable roof, and can be repeated time and again: in the course of the warmup interval; when Djokovic switched sides of the web after the primary sport; when he was within the midst of climbing out of a love-40 gap within the first set (the one three break factors he would face all evening); when he broke to guide 4-3 within the second; and many others., and many others., and many others. There have been extra of these cheers on the finish, and Djokovic smiled broadly.
Grading his play, Djokovic mentioned he discovered he was “kind of going up and down” within the second set, however did not give his opponent “too much chance to breathe” within the third. As for his hamstring, Djokovic mentioned he was apprehensive about it going into the match, however afterward this was his evaluation: “The leg is good. It’s not ideal, but it’s getting there.”
This was not essentially Djokovic at his best possible, and he appeared to indicate some frustration early on when he stored obvious and muttering within the route of coach Goran Ivanisevic and the remainder of his entourage within the stands. But Djokovic didn’t essentially should be at his best possible. He actually produced robust sufficient tennis to take the preliminary step towards what he hopes will probably be a twenty second Grand Slam title to tie rival Rafael Nadal’s file for essentially the most in tennis historical past by a person.
Djokovic, who has spent extra weeks at No. 1 within the ATP rankings than anybody, additionally has an opportunity to return to that spot after the upcoming two weeks; the individual presently occupying that perch, Carlos Alcaraz, is sitting out the Australian Open with a leg harm.
