The injury update from Novak Djokovic was all good on the eve of his Australian Open title defence.
Djokovic hurt his wrist playing for Serbia in the United Cup last week and needed treatment twice during a quarter-final loss to Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
“My wrist is good. I had time from the last match against de Minaur to my first match here to recover,” he said. “I’ve been training well. Practice sessions pain-free so far. It’s good. It’s all looking good.”
Djokovic has made it a habit to start the year with a title in Australia. He’s on a 28-match winning streak at Melbourne Park, where he has won an unprecedented 10 men’s singles crowns.
And, so he feels right at home. He hosted “A Night with Novak and Friends” that drew almost a capacity crowd to Rod Laver Arena, where he got the jump on the organisers by announcing he’d be playing the night match on Sunday — Day 1 of the first-ever 15-day Australian Open.
Both singles champions will play in the first of the night sessions: Djokovic’s opener against qualifier Dino Prizmic will be followed by Aryna Sabalenka’s first-round match against Ella Seidel.
Fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner, who beat Djokovic twice in a month late last year, including in Italy’s run to the Davis Cup title, will open play on the main show court against Botic van de Zandschulp.
The first round will be staged over three days, with organisers hoping to cut back on the late finishes across the tournament.
Djokovic won 27 of his 28 matches in grand slams last year, losing only the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz. He’s determined to go one better than that in 2024 and would like an Olympic gold medal in Paris to go with it.
Asked on Saturday if the so-called Golden Slam — all four majors plus Olympic gold — was in his reckoning for this season, Djokovic said it’s no secret that he wants to win every major he contests.
“It’s no different this year,” he said. “I’m just hoping I can start the season in a way that I have been starting my seasons, most of my seasons, throughout my career: with a win here in Australia, inMelbourne. My favourite place, no doubt.”
Alcaraz’s ambitious plan
Melbourne: Carlos Alcaraz would like nothing better than to take the title away from Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open in two weeks’ time, the Spaniard said on the eve of the start of the year’s first grand slam.
The 20-year-old said Djokovic’s record of 10 wins from 10 Melbourne Park finals made the prospect of landing his first Australian Open title by beating the Serb on Rod Laver Arena all the more appealing.
“It’s an extra motivation for me. I’m an ambitious guy. I always want to play against the best players to see what is my level,” Alcaraz told reporters on Saturday.
“Obviously, it’s a good test, playing against him in the tournament where he’s almost unbeaten. I’m looking to reach the final and hopefully playing a final against him. It would be great obviously.
“But, yeah, knowing those stats, it’s an extra motivation, for sure.”
As first and second seeds, Djokovic and Alcaraz would meet in the final on January 28 if neither was knocked out in an earlier round.
As tempting as that prospect would be for tennis fans, it would require a marked improvement for Alcaraz, who has never made it past the third round in his two visits to Melbourne.
Alcaraz has travelled to Australia without coach Juan Carlos Ferrero and decided not to play any warm-up events.
“I think I’m a guy who doesn’t need so much competition before a big tournament,” he added.
“Obviously (it) always helps (but) I think I’m prepared to do good things here in the grand slam.
“On the court, off the court. I think everybody can be better. Everybody can improve their things. I’m not perfect, so I have to improve a lot of things on the court and off the court, as well,” he said.
“I think this year, it’s going to be a good one,” he added with a smile.
Reuters
