Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his first round match against Spain’s Pedro Martinez. Photo: REUTERS
MELBOURNE:
Novak Djokovic began his hunt for a record 25th Grand Slam title with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 win over unseeded Spaniard Pedro Martinez in the Australian Open first round on Monday, the Serb easing pre-tournament concerns about his fitness with a sparkling display.
Doubts had been raised about Djokovic’s preparedness for the major he has won a record 10 times after the 38-year-old skipped the Adelaide tune-up event and cut short practice on Sunday, but he had no trouble sealing his 100th match win at Melbourne Park.
A potentially tricky start against first-time opponent Martinez turned into a routine workout when Djokovic seized control with a break and never loosened his grip under the bright lights of Rod Laver Arena to take the opening set.
Despite last playing in November when he claimed his 101st career title in Athens, Djokovic barely missed a beat as he let rip a fiery crosscourt winner en route to breaking early and wrapping up the second set.
While the spotlight has largely swung toward reigning Melbourne champion Jannik Sinner and world number one Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic reminded the duo of his threat with some sublime tennis to power through the third set and prevail.
Swiatek fends off Yuan
Iga Swiatek launched her bid for a first Australian Open title with an unconvincing 7-6(5) 6-3 win over Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue under the lights at Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
Six-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek was in all sorts of trouble, broken three times by the hard-hitting Yuan whose game was levels above her 130th ranking.
But the Pole’s backhand proved decisive as she smacked a slew of winners in the clutch points to keep Yuan at bay.
“I was a bit rusty at the beginning, didn’t really start well,” Swiatek said on court.
“But I knew if I put in the hard work, I will play better so that’s what I tried to do.
“I’m happy that it worked, many ups and downs. There are things to work on.”
It took some backhand magic for Swiatek to deny Yuan from taking the first set as she served at 5-4.
The Pole won the tiebreak off the same flank, planting her feet on the baseline to unleash a furious inside-out winner before racing to a 3-0 lead in the second set.
With the match slipping away, Yuan called a medical timeout, complaining of tightness in her thigh area, and lay down on the court to let trainers go to work.
When she got to her feet, she promptly broke Swiatek and rallied to 3-2, triggering calls of “Jiayou!” (Come on!) from Chinese fans in the terraces.
Yuan scrapped hard to the finish, saving a match point on serve at 5-3 but there was no denying Swiatek who closed it out with a sizzling backhand return down the line two points later.
Swiatek will meet Czech Marie Bouzkova for a place in the third round as she continues her quest for the career Grand Slam, having won crowns at the other three majors.
