Djokovic after tough win over Struff: "I pray to have serving days like I had today all the time"

Novak Djokovic battled past Jan-Lennard Struff in a tough four set test on Monday at the Australian Open in Melbourne with a brilliant 14 aces.

Not a known part of Djokovic's game, he admitted that his coach Goran Ivanisevic has influenced him and that he feels great serving at the minute.

He also admitted that he prefers having opening round matches that are tougher as it means he is more sharper than before.

“Goran’s influencing me a little bit,” Djokovic said.

“Of course we talked about [my] serve a lot and some other parts of my game where I can improve and maybe get some more free points if possible. I think throughout my career, my serve was maybe a little bit underestimated because of the quality of the return and baseline play. But the serve has actually given me quite a lot of free points in important matches and big tournaments throughout my career.”

“In the past year, year and a half, I feel great serving,” Djokovic said. “Obviously I pray to have serving days like I had today all the time. It’s not possible. But I know I can back up my serve with good game from the back of the court.”

“I actually like tough first rounds, in Grand Slams particularly. Historically I’ve had lots of success in Grand Slams where I had tough opponents in the first round because it gets me going from the beginning. I have to be alert, I have to be at a high level, and I think I was,” Djokovic added.

“Of course you can always play better and I expect myself to be better as the tournament progresses, but it was a good matchup and I’m glad how I overcame the challenge.”