Nole, with new coach Andy Murray, is off to a winning start at the Australian Open.
10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic fought back from a set down to beat 19-year-old American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
“It’s all business now for us, I’m thrilled to have him in my corner,” Djokovic said of Murray. “It was a little bit of a strange experience to have him courtside in my box. We played against each other for over 20 years, and it’s great to have him on the same side of the net. He gave me some great advice mid-match. It’s really good we have the opportunity to exchange some feedback and get our coaches to tell us what they see. It’s been a great experience, hopefully we don’t stop here.”
Novak secured his second-round spot in Melbourne for an 18th consecutive year after two hours and 59 minutes of play.
The seventh seed from Serbia was pushed by Grand Slam debutant Basavareddy throughout the encounter, but he raised his level to surge to victory in the pair’s first ATP H2H meeting.
Djokovic broke four times from 11 opportunities and was 14/17 on net approaches, while his rival converted one break point from three chances he earned.
Match statistics: aces (23-4), double faults (4-8), winners (51-32), unforced errors (41-42), total points won (129-106).
Novak will continue his quest for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title against qualifier Jaime Faria (POR, ATP no.125), who earlier beat Pavel Kotov in straight sets 6-1, 6-1, 7-5.
Fotografije: Profimedia
