Top seed Novak Djokovic has beaten Dino Prizmic 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 in four grueling hours to qualify for the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
On what he had to say following his hard-fought victory over impressive teenager Prizmic, who was making his Grand Slam debut, Djokovic sad: “He is an amazing player, he handled himself incredibly well on the court. This is his moment. He fought from 4-0 down [in the fourth set] and break points down, He showed great mentality and resilience.
“Honestly I have many compliments for him. I love the way he uses every inch of the court, he’s comfortable to come in, he defends incredible well. Just an amazing performance for someone who is 18 years old and has never had experience on this stage. We are going to see a lot of him in the future.”
On his own performance, he added: “I started off very well but when you think about it, jeez, I’m double his age. Reality hits hard. I’m really trying to enjoy every moment on the court.
“He had an answer to everything, he was very physical. I had good moments. In some moments I wish I could have played better, more aggressively.
“It has been a short off-season and I am still finding myself physically but I have a couple of days off before my next match.”
