Novak Djokovic survives scare from 18-year-old wildcard to advance to Australian Open second round with four-set victory in Melbourne

Andre Agassi once tried to coach Novak Djokovic, a casual relationship that ended in 2018 after a notable lack of success.

But the great American clearly harbors no ill will and publicly anointed him the undisputed greatest of all time, ahead of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer during a return visit to Melbourne Park.

Djokovic started his campaign for an 11th Australian Open title with an uncomfortable 6-2 6-7 6-3 6-4 victory over hugely impressive Croatian teenager Dino Prizmic.

Watching from the stands at Rod Laver Arena was Agassi, who had previously been on site as a high-profile guest of the tournament, and gave his verdict on a question that some say is still not fully resolved.

“When it comes to paper, I don’t think you can argue with what Novak has done,” said the American, now 53 and married to fellow legend Steffi Graf.

The young wildcard Dino Prizmic surprised the Serbian after winning the second set

There are so many ways to look at it, but when you look at it on paper you just can’t argue with what he accomplished. The amount he has won, the head-to-head matches, the Masters titles, the number one at the end of the year, the weeks at number one.

“He’s won more Australian Opens than I have won Slams for crying out loud – what else do you do but laugh?” Agassi’s involvement in tennis has been sporadic recently, and he has been featured in the burgeoning sport of pickleball in the United States.

However, it appears he will increase his involvement in tennis this year, and according to a usually reliable source, strong consideration is being given to replacing John McEnroe as captain of the World Team in the Laver Cup team event, promoted by the management company of Federer. .

They are looking for a boost after a lackluster edition in Vancouver last year, and have already signed Carlos Alcaraz on a big break to guarantee his presence in the Europe team in Berlin in September.

As for Djokovic, he didn’t always relish being put in his favorite primetime slot early in the evening to kick off the Open’s first Sunday start, mainly due to the excellent performance of his young opponent, who certainly had a name is to keep for the future.

Prizmic is the reigning junior champion at Roland Garros – where Britain’s Henry Searle pushed him close to the last eight – and only then began to focus on the main tour.

However, he looked like he had been there for years, rather than someone making his Grand Slam main draw debut. He came face to face with the 10-time Melbourne champion, who erupted in anger as the crowd rallied behind the inspired stranger.

After a four-hour battle, Djokovic showered his opponent with praise: “He acted incredibly well, it could have easily been his match,” said the Serb, who fell behind with a break halfway through the third.

‘I have a lot of compliments for him. He made me run for money, he uses every inch of the field. Kudos to him, he will do big things in his career.’ The right-handed Prizmic doesn’t play much like Rafael Nadal, but has adopted quite a few of his mannerisms, such as constantly fiddling with his shirt and pants, and taking plenty of time between his serves.

This contributed to the slow pace of play, as well as the pace of the balls, which will obviously play slowly if the evenings remain as cool as these. It was the longest first-round match of Djokovic’s career.

But the reigning champion weathered the storm and won in four sets

The first three sets lasted three hours and included the rare sight of him going down in the tiebreak, although his incredible record in that from last year is fading somewhat as he has now lost his last three.

Djokovic’s serve was also below par, so there should be some encouragement for those trying to topple him over the next two weeks.

In the semi-finals, Djokovic is scheduled to play Jannik Sinner, who suffered two singles defeats at the end of last season. Sinner was a straight sets winner over Dutchman Botic Van Der Zandschulp.