{"id":1372,"date":"2023-01-17T15:25:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T16:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/?p=1372"},"modified":"2025-06-20T11:03:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T11:03:02","slug":"djokovic-faultless-in-australian-open-return-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/17\/djokovic-faultless-in-australian-open-return-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Djokovic faultless in Australian Open return (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Serb is aiming to win a tenth trophy in Melbourne<\/strong><\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic couldn\u2019t have wished for a better performance in his return to the Rod Laver Arena as he eased past past Roberto Carballes Baena to qualify for the second round of the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

The Serb, who was infamously deported from Australia ahead of the Grand Slam event last year amid a Covid vaccination row with immigration authorities down under, thanked fans for an incredibly warm welcome after his three-set (6-3, 6-4, 6-0) win against the world\u2019s 75th ranked player.<\/p>\n

Djokovic, who has been battling a hamstring injury and had heavy strapping on his upper left leg, appeared on the court to a raucous reception from a capacity crowd at Melbourne Park but didn’t appear to suffer any setbacks as he eased past the Spaniard after a little over two hours of action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t ask for a better start to the tournament<\/em>,\u201d the 35-year-old announced afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for giving me such a welcoming reception that I could only dream of. I feel really happy that I’m back here in Australia and on the court where I have had the biggest success in my career.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely this court is the most special court in my life.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Welcome back, Novak. \ud83d\udc4b@DjokerNole<\/a> beats Carballes Baena 6-3 6-4 6-0 to reach the second round. @wwos<\/a> \u2022 @espn<\/a> \u2022 @eurosport<\/a> \u2022 @wowowtennis<\/a> \u2022 #AusOpen<\/a> \u2022 #AO2023<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/AnBl31nlsx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The performance extends Djokovic\u2019s remarkable sequence of wins at the Australian Open \u2013 where he is a nine-time champion \u2013 to 35, a run which dates back to 2018. <\/p>\n

Another win at the first of four Grand Slam events this year would see Djokovic tie Rafael Nadal’s all-time record of 22 Grand Slam wins. <\/p>\n

He will play either Hugo Dellien of Bolivia or France\u2019s Enzo Couacaud in his second-round match on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n

67 – Novak Djokovic is now 67-2 in Grand Slam First Rounds: he only lost in the opening Round in a Major to Marat Safin at the Australian Open 2005 and Paul Goldstein at the AO 2006. Astonishing.@atptour<\/a> | #AusOpen2023<\/a> #AusOpen<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/EyqhTvX4B1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 OptaAce (@OptaAce) January 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

88 – Novak #Djokovic<\/a> has won his last 88 Grand Slam matches when he won the opening set (incl. retirements) – the last time he lost such a match was at the US Open final in 2016 against Stan Wawrinka (6-7 6-4 7-5 6-3). Launch.#AusOpen<\/a> #AustralianOpen<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/s7oYh56t0F<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 OptaAce (@OptaAce) January 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Elsewhere on Tuesday, there were wins for Andrey Rublev, while Germany\u2019s Alexander Zverev won his first singles match after suffering a serious knee injury last year, when he came out on top in a five-set thriller with Juan Pablo Varillas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am extremely happy because I missed this over the past seven months<\/em>,\u201d Zverev said after his victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis match alone pays off for all the hard work and suffering that I have had. To win in front of this kind of crowd again\u2026 I can\u2019t wait for the rest of the tournament. No matter what happens from now, the tournament is already a success for me<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Serb is aiming to win a tenth trophy in Melbourne Novak Djokovic couldn\u2019t have wished for a better performance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1373,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372\/revisions\/1373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marinemalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}