Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Brisbane International 2025. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Novak Djokovic overcame an early jolt to remain in the hunt for a record 25th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
While his two young rivals Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz moved into the second round with more emphatic victories, Djokovic dropped the opening set against American teenager Nishesh Basavareddy, who was a semi-finalist at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The Serb recovered though to eventually win 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 to keep his quest for an 11th Australian Open title.
"I was impressed by him," Djokovic said.
"The whole stadium was. That's why he got a great round of applause and appreciation from the crowd. They saw what he did on court, the quality of tennis, the fighting spirit.
"I ended the match in good fashion. I think it's important. It counts mentally for me, for the rest of the tournament."
While Djokovic went to war at Rod Laver Arena, Alcaraz was cruising to a 6-1 7-5 6-1 victory over unseeded Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko on Margaret Court Arena.
Alcaraz's win had followed Jannik Sinner's victory over Nicolas Jarry of Chile 7-6 7-6 6-1.
There was one big name to leave the Open during the night's action though, with Nick Kyrgios' first appearance in Melbourne Park in three years due to injury ending in a 7-6 6-3 7-6 defeat to Great Britain's Jacob Fearnley.
Nick Kyrgios at the US Open Photo: PHOTOSPORT
An ailing Kyrgios was unable to avoid falling through the trapdoor on his return to his home major, although the maverick Australian went down fighting like 2023 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas on a blockbuster second day at the year's opening major.
"It's hard," said Kyrgios, who dealt with knee, foot and wrist issues before sustaining an abdominal injury last month.
"When you're competing for the biggest tournaments in the world and you're struggling to win sets physically, it's pretty tough.
But I've still got a long year ahead," he said.
In the women's draw, Naomi Osaka prevented a repeat of her 2024 first-round loss to Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia as the twice Melbourne Park champion prevailed 6-3 3-6 6-3 to close out the action on the main showcourts.
Another to move through last night was 2022 Australia Open runner up, American Danielle Collins, who ousted Ukraine's Daria Snigur 7-6 6-3.
Her victory had followed other straight sets victories to big names including Poland's Iga Swiatek and American Jessica Pegula.
- Reuters
