Australian Open – ‘King’ Novak Djokovic revels in special opening night

Novak Djokovic was able to carry on his “love affair” with the Rod Laver Arena as his quest for a ninth Australian Open title began in usual fashion.
ON SONG: Serbia's Novak Djokovic makes a backhand return to France's Jeremy Chardy during their first round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Picture: AP/Rick RycroftON SONG: Serbia's Novak Djokovic makes a backhand return to France's Jeremy Chardy during their first round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Picture: AP/Rick Rycroft
ON SONG: Serbia's Novak Djokovic makes a backhand return to France's Jeremy Chardy during their first round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Picture: AP/Rick Rycroft

The world No 1 is the king of Melbourne Park, having won eight times over the last 13 years, and he put on a royal performance to take down Jeremy Chardy.

It was no surprise that Djokovic won in straight sets, claiming a 6-3 6-1 6-2 victory, as in 14 meetings against the Frenchman he has yet to drop a set.

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Djokovic enjoyed playing in front of a crowd again and said in his on-court interview: “It feels great. It makes my heart full to see the stadium again. This is the most people I have seen on a tennis court for 12 months.

STRONG START: Austria's Dominic Thiem serves to Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin during their first round match at the Australian Open  in Melbourne. Picture: AP/Rick RycroftSTRONG START: Austria's Dominic Thiem serves to Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin during their first round match at the Australian Open  in Melbourne. Picture: AP/Rick Rycroft
STRONG START: Austria's Dominic Thiem serves to Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin during their first round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Picture: AP/Rick Rycroft

“It is an ongoing love affair between me and this court, the Rod Laver Arena. Hopefully I can have many great matches with this kind of performances.

“I wanted to start off well tonight, first match night session, very special. One of the most special courts on the tennis tour that we have. It is my most successful and favourite courts on the tour. I have been very lucky to have some success on the court and have some great memories.”

Djokovic beat Dominic Thiem in last year’s final and the Austrian also made smooth progress into the second round, the US Open champion beating Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6 (2) 6-2 6-3.

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Alexander Zverev recovered from a racket-smashing tantrum after losing the first set to beat Marcos Giron, while 2017 finalist Grigor Dimitrov overcame what he described as his toughest ever first-round match, beating former US Open champion Marin Cilic in straight sets.

Gael Monfils was the biggest casualty of the day as he lost a gruelling five-set match to Emil Ruusuvuori.

The Finnish player had been Monfils’s hitting partner during the two-week quarantine in the build-up to the tournament and clearly made notes as he earned an impressive 3-6 6-4 7-5 3-6 6-3 win.

The Frenchman, 34, did not take it well after the game and fighting back the tears he said: “I don’t have any confidence. I would like to get out of this nightmare but I can’t. I don’t know when it’s going to end.”

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Denis Shapovalov and Jannick Sinner produced a thrilling end to the day with a five-set battle that finished at close to 1am.

Shapovalov, seeded 11th, will have cursed his luck when he saw the draw as it pitted him against the highest-ranked unseeded player and one who won one of the warm-up tournaments.

But the Canadian showed plenty of mettle to come through a gruelling encounter, winning 3-6 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4.

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