Djokovic gets 90th Australian Open match win despite valiant Prizmic effort

Serb Novak Djokovic, the top seed, advanced to the second round of the Australian Open by edging out Croat qualifier Dino Prizmic 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 at Melbourne Park on Sunday night.

The 18-year-old put up a good fight, though, breaking Djokovic in the third set to take a temporary lead.

And despite the world No 1’s 4-0 lead in the fourth, Prizmic did extend the battle beyond four hours – making it the longest first-round match of Djokovic’s Grand Slam career.

“I had an amazing opponent tonight,” Djokovic said afterwards. “For an 18-year-old, he played so maturely and confidently on the court, fighting through, not giving up even when he was four down in the fourth set. Impressed with his mentality, with his approach, with his game. I hear a lot of positive stories about his discipline, his dedication to everyday routines that are making him so physically strong already at 18 and successful.

“Yeah, if he continues this way, he’s going to have a very bright career ahead of him, no doubt.”

Djokovic, ranked No 1, will face the winner of the match between Alexei Popyrin and wildcard Marc Polmans next.

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000, most recent results first):

• Richard Gasquet vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Alexander Zverev vs. Dominik Koepfer
• Daniel Evans vs. Lorenzo Sonego
• Sebastian Ofner vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis
• Mackenzie McDonald vs. Juncheng Shang
• Alexander Bublik vs. Sumit Nagal
• Tommy Paul vs. Gregoire Barrere
• Holger Rune vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
• SoonWoo Kwon vs. Lukas Klein
• Marcos Giron vs. Jack Draper
• Max Purcell vs. Mate Valkusz
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Marton Fucsovics
• Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs. Casper Ruud
• Dusan Lajovic vs. Giulio Zeppieri
• Cameron Norrie vs. Juan Pablo Varillas
• Bernabe Zapata Miralles vs. Jiri Lehecka
• James McCabe vs. Alex Michelsen
• Roman Safiullin vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Arthur Fils vs. Jiri Vesely
• Laslo Djere vs. Arthur Cazaux
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Dominic Thiem
• Alex De Minaur vs. Milos Raonic
• Omar Jasika vs. Hubert Hurkacz
• Rinky Hijikata vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
• Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Yosuke Watanuki
• Alexandre Muller vs. Hugo Grenier
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Federico Coria
• Ugo Humbert vs. David Goffin
• Maximilian Marterer vs. Nuno Borges
• Christopher Eubanks vs. Taro Daniel
• Daniel Altmaier vs. Karen Khachanov
• Alejandro Tabilo vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic
• Andy Murray vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Yannick Hanfmann vs. Gael Monfils
• Denis Shapovalov vs. Jakub Mensik
• Aleksandar Vukic vs. Jordan Thompson
• Zizou Bergs vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Constant Lestienne vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
• James Duckworth vs. Luca Van Assche
• Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Ben Shelton
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Stan Wawrinka
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Marc Polmans
• Terence Atmane vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Patrick Kypson vs. Emil Ruusuvuori
• Sebastian Korda vs. Vit Kopriva
• Flavio Cobolli vs. Nicolas Jarry
• Lorenzo Musetti vs. Benjamin Bonzi
• Roberto Carballes Baena vs. Hugo Gaston
• Frances Tiafoe vs. Borna Coric: sunday
• Quentin Halys beat Lloyd Harris (Q): 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (2)
• Daniel Elahi Galan beat Jason Kubler (WC): 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (8)
• Sebastian Baez (26) beat J.J. Wolf: 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 2-0 ret.
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Facundo Diaz Acosta: 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Jesper De Jong (Q) beat Pedro Cachin: 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
• Christopher O’Connell beat Cristian Garin: 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
• Tomas Machac beat Shintaro Mochizuki (LL): 7-5, 6-1, 7-5
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6)
• Fabian Marozsan beat Marin Čilić: 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
• Francisco Cerundolo (22) beat Dane Sweeny (Q): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
• Pavel Kotov beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-5, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (4) beat Botic van de Zandschulp: 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Adam Walton (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4
• Jaume Munar beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1

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