If this was Novak Djokovic at his “rusty” best then the rest of the world has plenty to worry about after the Serbian star kicked off his Australian Open preparations with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win over China’s Zhang Zhizhen at the United Cup.
It was a fitting way for Djokovic to end 2023 with yet another win given he claimed three of the four grand slams, with the veteran looking to add an 11th Australian Open crown in the coming weeks.
It wasn’t the smoothest performance of his career, but it took him just over an hour to put away his opponent before he backed up in the doubles to help his country win the tie 2-1.
“I was a little bit rusty at the beginning. I was out of the tempo, rhythm for maybe the first five, six games,” Djokovic said.
“But that’s normal when you don’t play an official match for over a month. It takes a little bit of time to get the engines going.
“He was serving well, he had nothing much to lose.
“When I broke his serve at 3-2 in the first set, I felt the momentum shift to my side.”
Serbia will top Group E and qualify for the quarter-finals if they beat the Czech Republic in Perth, with Djokovic keen to get more match practice under his belt before he heads to Melbourne.
“I’m still in the process of building the body and the form for Melbourne,” he said.
“The Australian Open is where I want to be at my 100 per cent.
“But this is as good as it gets for the opening week, and hopefully I can build from here and go in the right direction.”
While Djokovic capped off a stunning 2023 with a victory, Rafael Nadal was simply relieved to get through his final match of what had been a frustrating year ruined by injuries.
The Spanish legend had been out for nearly 12 months but got through his doubles match at the Brisbane International unscathed in a promising sign ahead of the Australian Open.
The 22-time grand slam winner went down to Aussie duo Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson in straight sets and will turn his attention to a heavyweight showdown against Austria’s Dominic Thiem on Tuesday.
This could very well be Nadal’s final trip Down Under, although the 37-year-old concedes he hasn’t thought about his future after having almost a full season of his career wiped out by injury.
“I can’t have super long-term goals because I don’t see myself playing a super long time,” he said.
“I don’t know how things are going to keep going. I’m not a player who tries to predict what can happen. I need to accept the adversity and that it’s not going to be perfect, just come with the right spirit every day.“