Novak Djokovic has officially returned to the Australian Open ahead of his 21st appearance at the tournament.
Djokovic will look to win a 25th Grand Slam title in 2026, having not added to his major tally since the 2023 US Open.
While he has not been able to win any more Grand Slams, Djokovic has achieved another impressive feat prior to the Australian Open.
However, there were some concerns about the Serbian, with Djokovic withdrawing from the Adelaide International after admitting he was not physically ready to compete before the Australian Open.
These concerns have now slightly lessened after Djokovic was spotted during his first practice session ahead of the first major of 2026.
Novak Djokovic practices with Jiri Lehecka before the Australian Open
With less than a week to go until the Australian Open, Djokovic played his first official practice session on Rod Laver Arena.
This is a court where Djokovic has won 10 of his 24 Grand Slam titles, and he was hitting with world number 19 Jiri Lehecka.
Despite concerns about his fitness after withdrawing from the Adelaide International, there did not appear to be any particular issues for Djokovic in Melbourne.
Djokovic is not the only person in this practice session to have had concerns ahead of the Australian Open, with Lehecka also having physical problems to start the year.
Lehecka retired from his match at the Brisbane International with an ankle injury, before withdrawing from the Adelaide International himself.
However, it does not appear to have been too serious for the Czech, with Lehecka’s practice session with Djokovic scheduled for an hour and a half.
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What Novak Djokovic said about Jiri Lehecka at the Australian Open last year
It is not the first time that Djokovic and Lehecka have played on Rod Laver Arena together, as they also faced one another in a fourth round match at the Australian Open just last year.
Ahead of this match, Djokovic spoke about Lehecka and how he thinks his serve is an ‘underestimated’ shot.
“Lehecka has won Brisbane and is in really good form, winning comfortably his first three rounds here,” Djokovic said in his post-match press conference after beating Tomas Machac.
“For sure, another Czech player that I’m going to face that there are some similarities between him and Machac, I think. The Czech tennis school backhands are terrific. I mean, such solid backhands. Lehecka is one of the fittest guys on the tour, and I think his serve is underestimated. He’s a big weapon. Wins a lot of free points in the first serve.
“Well, the more matches you win, the more confident you are, so I’m sure this kind of matchup comes at the right time for him. I’m sure he feels that he can beat me. You know, if we play on center court, you know, night session, it would be a great matchup. I’m looking forward to it.
“I like the way I played tonight, and I can expect another aggressive player that plays very flat, similar to what I experienced tonight, and hopefully the result will be same.”
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Despite being wary of the threat that Lehecka posed, Djokovic was able to beat the Czech in straight sets to progress to the quarterfinals.
Djokovic and Lehecka will discover when they can play each other again, when the Australian Open draw takes place on Thursday, January 15.
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