Djokovic fends off first-timer Prizmic to advance in Australia

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MELBOURNE, Jan 14, (AP): Until he took on defending champion Novak Djokovic at Rod Laver Arena on opening Sunday in Australia, Dino Prizmic had never played a Grand Slam match. The 18-year-old Croatian qualifier, who was born seven months after Djokovic made his Grand Slam debut in 2005, made it last as long as he could. He unsettled the 24-time major winner before Djokovic finished off the match 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.

Djokovic has developed a record at the Australian Open that no man can match, with 10 titles here among his unprecedented career haul. He later said he’d been feeling “under the weather” for four or five days but credited Primzic’s talent.

The first set played out just about as expected. From there, it became quite a ride.
Prizmic took the second set off Djokovic and went up a break in the third, stunning a capacity crowd, before the world’s No. 1-ranked player broke back and took the set.

Prizmic didn’t give up when he trailed 4-0 in the fourth, either, saving a breakpoint before getting a service break back. He saved three match points at 5-3 down and made Djokovic serve it out. He then saved a further two match points before it ended in 4 hours and 1 minute.
“He deserved every applause, every credit he got tonight,” Djokovic said. “Amazing performance for someone that is 18 years old and never had the experience of playing on a big stage. Kudos to him.”

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