A first warm-up round
He is in search of all records. 24 times Grand Slam winners, including ten in Melbourne, Novak Djokovic could – in addition to becoming the most successful player of all time – reach the mark of 100 tournaments won on the ATP circuit if he succeeds during this fortnight. For this, it will certainly be necessary to start the matches better than he did against the young Nishesh Basavareddy. At 19, the American played his first major draw in a Major and won the first round, against one of his childhood idols. Alongside his new coach, “Nole” finally found his way to winning shots and successful volleys to finally win 4/6, 6/3, 6/4, 6/2 and qualify for the second round Down Under for the 18th consecutive year.
Triple finalist at the Australian Open (2021, 2022, 2024), Daniil Medvedev (5) also had a sluggish start. Author of an unusual number of unforced errors for a former world No. 1 (34), he found himself trailing two sets to one against the Thai Kasidit Samrej. But “Meddy” is used to long matches, a specialist, even! He won three last year before reaching the final – also losing in five rounds. Also used to reversing situations, he finally won 6/2, 4/6, 3/6, 6/1, 6/2. “I know I play better when I play a lot. I said to myself: why play for an hour and a half when I need three hours to feel comfortable on the court and have the right sensations?” he declared after the match in a joking tone. “But to be serious, I didn't manage to touch the ball in the second and third sets, no power, nothing at all. I didn't know what to do!“
And since we are talking about a reverse trend, we must not forget to mention the somewhat chaotic performances of Emma Navarro (8) and Clara Tauson. If the first comes out of a particularly successful year 2024, she had to battle for more than three hours to find the solution against Peyton Stearns (6/7(5), 7/6(5), 7/5). Recent champion in Auckland, the second is also on an exceptional dynamic, but the inaugural round lost against Linda Noskova pushed her to her limits (5/7, 6/3, 6/4).
