"I lost three games in a row": Novak Djokovic was left distracted by Andre Agassi presence at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic worked hard to secure a first-round victory against Dino Prizmic (No. 178) with a score of 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4. The Serbian battled for three hours and 59 minutes on the Rod Laver Arena under the watchful eye of the 8-times Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi, and he had words for the former tennis player.

In the on-court interview, Djokovic was asked if he noticed the presence of the American former world No. 1, and he thanked him for attending to watch. Djokovic successfully began his journey in Melbourne and secured his 29th consecutive victory in the tournament, where he holds 10 titles.

Djokovic joked about the long time since seeing Agassi and teased him after hitting a winner: "Of course [I noticed him]. Andre, great to have you, thank you so much for gracing us and the Australian Open with your presence. We haven't seen you in years. Actually, 4-0 and deuce, and I made a forehand winner, I smiled at you and I said, 'It's almost like your return,'" Novak Djokovic said.

"After that, I lost three games in a row, not your fault, my fault. I lost my focus, but you know, I was inspired by your presence and overwhelmed to see you. Thanks for coming out," he added. In the second round, Djokovic will face one of the locals, Marc Polmans (No. 156), and Alexei Popyrin (No. 43), which will take place on Tuesday, January 16.

During his stay in Melbourne, Andre Agassi responded to an interview with The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, where he positioned Djokovic as the man to beat in the tournament: "The only thing I’m absolutely convinced about is Novak will not beat Father Time. It’s just a question of how long you can postpone it. I definitely see a few more years of him being the one that has to be dealt with," the American former world No. 1 said.

"How can you say something isn’t possible? Records are meant to be broken, right? Obviously we’re just speculating on so many things, which includes health, and that’s going to start to rear its head," he added.