Djokovic battles through late night struggles to reach 2nd round

Novak Djokovic won his first-round Australian Open match against Struff despite some struggles in the 3rd set

The defending champion closed out a rainy 1st day at the Australian Open. Djokovic is famously known as a player who dominates opponents in early stages of grand slams. There was some of that but there were some issues for the champion as well.

The first set was a tight one as both players played very well on their on serve. That meant that we had a tie break and Djokovic was the better player there winning it 7-5. The second set was Nole as we know him. He was composed and clinical seizing every opportunity his opponent gave him. He conveyed both break balls he had and wrapped up the set in style 6-2.

The 3rd set was when we saw a drop in the quality of play from the Serbian. He struggled with his serve only hitting 46 % of his 1st serve. Couple that with an abysmal 2nd serve conveying rate of 17% and you have trouble. Jan-Lennard Struff was pretty good on his on serve and he cruised to an easy 6-2 3rd set victory.

Novak wasn't happy with himself and he unleashed all his fury in the 3rd set. He wasn't going to let his opponent take another set as he raised the bar to another level. Hitting 79 % of his 1st serves and winning 91 % highlights just that. He was dominant on return as well, winning 60 % of those points. All in all, it was a superb display by the Serbian as he won it 6-1.

Djokovic overcame some struggles and continued his stellar run which began at the ATP Cup earlier this month. Post-match he acknowledged the special connection he feels with the Australian Open and the crowd agreed. How far Nole go? Stay with us and check our daily recaps!

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