14 January 2024 , 16:21
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Novak Djokovic fired a cheeky shot at tennis icon Andre Agassi, insisting the American’s presence at his opening Australian Open game distracted him.
Djokovic - a 10-time winner at Melbourne Park - is looking to win a 25th Grand Slam title, that would take his major total past Margaret Court, the all-time leader. With eight-time Grand Slam champion Agassi watching on, the Serb was made to work hard for his opening-round win at the 2024 Australian Open on Sunday.
Djokovic took on qualifier Dino Prizmic for nearly four hours before he finally secured the 6-2 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4 win before an impassioned Melbourne crowd. Prizmic was facing his childhood idol on his debut appearance at a Grand Slam, and saved six match points before Djokovic emerged victorious.
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The match surpassed Djokovic's previous longest in the first round of a major, which was a three-hour-57-minute encounter against Gael Monfils at the US Open in 2005. With the result, the 36-year-old clinched his 90th win at the Australian Open, becoming the first player with at least 90 wins in three different Grand Slams in the Open era.
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When asked if the World No. 1 saw Agassi watching the action, Djokovic said: “Of course [I noticed him]. Andre, great to have you. Thank you so much for gracing us and Australian Open with your presence. It’s amazing to see you.
“I haven’t seen you in years. It was 4-0 and deuce, and I made a forehand winner. I smiled at you and said it’s almost like your return. After that I lost 3 games in a row.. not your fault. I was inspired by your presence and overwhelmed to see you. Thanks for coming out.”
Andre Agassi was in the stands as Novak Djokovic advanced to the second round (Getty Images)Agassi, along with the crowd, laughed at Djokovic’s comments. The popular American, who is widely considered among the greatest to ever set foot on the court, recently insisted the 24-time Grand Slam champion is the best player of all ahead of his great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“There’s so many ways to look at it, but when you look at it on paper you just can’t argue with what he’s accomplished,” Agassi told The Australian ahead of the opening major of the 2024 season. “The amount that he’s won, the head-to-heads, the Masters (titles), the year-end number ones, the weeks at number... all those stats.”
Djokovic will take on either Marc Polmans or Alexei Popyrin in the second round of the 2024 Australian Open.