Having come through an extremely taxing test at the opening hurdle, Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic continues his title defence on Wednesday, when home favourite Alexei Popyrin squares up to him in the second round.
The world number one prevailed in an exhilarating four-set battle with Croatian teenager Dino Prizmic in round one, while Popyrin defeated compatriot Marc Polmans in straight sets.
Match preview
© Reuters
Djokovic saw shades of his younger self during his extraordinary contest with Prizmic, who was born seven months after the Serbian first appeared in an Australian Open main-draw match, as he was taken to the four-hour mark in a Grand Slam first-round match for the first time ever.
Prizmic conjured up a magnificent defensive display which Djokovic would have been immensely proud of - had he not been on the other side of the net - but the 36-year-old's experience and mental fortitude won out in a 6-2 6-7[5] 6-3 6-4 triumph, despite hitting 49 unforced errors on the day.
Six match points came and went for Djokovic before he finally eliminated his fledgling foe at the seventh attempt, before offering some words of encouragement and sympathy at the net after being pushed to the limit by Prizmic, who was ultimately undone on the service tally.
Eleven aces for Djokovic was four more than Prizmic's double-fault counter, as the former added yet another record to his ever-growing collection; he is now the only male player in the Open Era with at least 90 victories in three separate Grand Slam tournaments.
Djokovic's opening success also saw him set a new outright high of 22 Grand Slam matches without defeat against qualifiers - leaving Serena Williams in his wake - and only once before has he been sent packing in the second round of the Australian Open, suffering a shock loss to Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in 2017.
© Reuters
Aiming to follow in Istomin's footsteps and send the Rod Laver Arena into raptures, world number 43 Popyrin marched to a far more straightforward beating of fellow Australian Polmans in his opening contest, taking two hours and 28 minutes to succeed 6-3 7-6[3] 6-2.
Breaking Polmans in his opening service game set the tone for Popyrin, who was not made to pay for only taking four of the 11 break points he fashioned as he beat away all three such chances for Polmans to bite back, while also sending 20 blistering aces past his opponent.
Standing at a formidable 6ft 5in tall, Popyrin will certainly seek to fight fire with fire against Djokovic and conjured up a staggering 54 winners during his battle with Polmans, helping him avoid a fourth successive first-round major exit after suffering such a fate at last year's French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
Yet to advance past the third round in Melbourne, Popyrin also has just one second-round exit on his notebook - losing at this stage to Lloyd Harris in 2021 - and the 24-year-old won just his second ATP Tour title in 2023, beating Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the Croatia Open.
Popyrin is therefore no stranger to putting Grand Slam champions to the sword, but with all due respect to Wawrinka, Popyrin will likely require more than another half-century of winners to end Djokovic's Melbourne reign.
Tournament so far
Novak Djokovic:
First round: vs. Dino Prizmic 6-2 6-7[5] 6-3 6-4
Alexei Popyrin:
First round: vs. Marc Polmans
Head To Head
Japan Open (2019) - First round: Djokovic wins 6-4 6-2
Only once before have Djokovic and Popyrin done battle on the ATP Tour, as the world number one came up against a then 20-year-old Australian during the first round of the 2019 Japan Open in Tokyo.
Popyrin had come through qualifying to earn a maiden date with Djokovic, and while he was not blown away by the top seed, he still succumbed to a relatively uneventful 4-6 2-6 defeat.
Popyrin managed to save nine of the 12 break points he faced in his opening meeting with Djokovic and also tallied one more ace than the Serbian, but he was kept at arm's length throughout and was not aided by five double faults either.
We say: Djokovic to win in three sets
Djokovic's physical condition sparked particular concern while he struggled to compete with Prizmic at various stages of their first-round battle, and Popyrin's big serves and exceptional power could trouble the Serbian somewhat.
When it comes to lengthy baseline rallies against the Australian, though, Djokovic ought to have his number, and we can only back the defending champion to continue his surge towards Grand Slam title number 25.
Ben Knapton
