United Cup: Djokovic beats Zhang to make winning start to season
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khaskhabar.com : Monday, January 01, 2024 11:09 AM
Perth. World number one Novak Djokovic gave Serbia a 1-0 lead over China by winning his match in the preliminary league match of the United Cup mixed team tennis tournament on Sunday.
In his last match of the last season, Djokovic defeated Jannik Sinner in the final of the 2023 ATP Finals to defend his title.
On Saturday, in his first match of the new season, the ATP ranking No. 1 defeated Zhang Zizhen 6-3, 6-2 to give Serbia a 1-0 lead heading into their group clash with China in Perth. Djokovic was very strong in all aspects of his game as he recorded a 74-minute victory in his first ATP head-to-head encounter with Zhang.
“It’s great to be back in Perth,” Djokovic said, addressing the crowd. “The New Year is in a few hours, so I really appreciate you coming here to the court to celebrate New Year’s Eve with us. It’s been 10 years since I’ve lived in Perth, and this ground definitely One of the best grounds, inside and out, that I have played on.”
“Obviously Australia has been my happy place. The place where I have won the most Slams is Melbourne and I love coming back. I also missed playing in Perth.
Djokovic converted three of the seven break points he earned to cheer on the Serbian contingent in the stands at the RAC Arena. He is now 17-1 in season openers since the beginning of 2007.
Djokovic, 36, will play one more match before the calendar year ends when he pairs up with Olga Danilovic in the mixed doubles on Sunday evening.
Djokovic said after the match, “I was a little shaky in the beginning, a little out of rhythm in the first five or six matches, but that’s normal. When you don’t play any official matches for more than a month, obviously But it takes a while to get the engine going and he was serving well. I thought the service was very good on my part, whenever I found myself out of trouble at 15/15 or 30/30 in my service games. When it was necessary to remove it, I got a good service.
–IANS
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