Novak Djokovic enjoyed the ideal start to his Australian Open campaign with a straightforward win against Pedro Martinez.
Djokovic claimed his 100th Australian Open win with his victory over Martinez, who he defeated 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
The former ATP number one, who is the fourth seed at the Grand Slam, now takes on qualifier Francesco Maestrelli in round two.
Djokovic is currently chasing an 11th title at the Australian Open, along with a 25th Grand Slam title, which would place him at the top of the all-time list.
How far do you think Novak Djokovic will go at the Australian Open?
Martina Navratilova really impressed by ‘outstanding’ Novak Djokovic
His fellow legend Martina Navratilova was quick to praise the Serbian post-match, saying on Tennis Channel: “We thought maybe he might be a little rusty.
“I don’t know how he does it to be this sharp at this age, with no match play. But the shot that impressed me was the backhand down the line, open stance.
“The strength, flexibility and the core strength that it takes to hit that shot, not to just blow it cross court, at any age… he couldn’t have done this 20 years ago. He’s gotten better, and that he can keep it up like this, the motivation is still outstanding.”
Lindsay Davenport lauds ‘perfect’ Novak Djokovic Australian Open start
Navratilova wasn’t the only former player to have been left really impressed by Djokovic, with Lindsay Davenport also praising the veteran.
She said: “It was a perfect performance from Novak. It was up here yesterday where we talked about he’s got to get through this first week pretty easily to save up his energy for week two if he’s going to make a run.
“That kind of match is perfect. He was more aggressive. He was trying to finish points off. That’s what you got to do if you want to keep the matches shorter.
“He might have a few more unforced errors at times, but you want to finish points off. You want to finish him up at net. He was more aggressive. Played a perfect opening match.”
The Australian Open is the best Grand Slam… discuss!
The matches are very likely only going to get more difficult in terms of opponent level, but Djokovic will gain more and more confidence the further he goes.
But at 38, conserving energy will be key to a lengthy run, particularly given that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner remain on his potential path to success.
Djokovic may need to overcome the Italian in the semifinals of the Australian Open, and the Spaniard in the final, having previously had trouble against both in best-of-five set matches.
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