United Cup: Dominant Djokovic beats Zhang and makes a winning start to the season
Novak Djokovic overtook Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-2 to give Serbia a 1-0 lead in the group match with China.
New Delhi: Novak Djokovic started the season the way it ended. He won his match to give Serbia a 1-0 lead over China on Sunday in a preliminary league match of the United Cup mixed team tennis tournament. In his final match of the previous season, Djokovic defeated Jannik Sinner in the final of the 2023 ATP Finals to defend his title.
On Saturday, in his first match of the new season, the number 1 of the ATP rankings passed Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-2 to give Serbia a 1-0 lead in the group match with China in Perth. Djokovic was rock solid in all facets of his game as he completed a 74-minute triumph in his first head-to-head ATP meeting with Zhang.
“It’s great to be back in Perth,” Djokovic said as he addressed the crowd. “It’s New Year’s in a few hours, so I really appreciate you hopefully coming to celebrate New Year’s Eve with us here on the field. It’s been ten years since I’ve been to Perth, and this arena is definitely one of the most beautiful, both inside and out, I’ve played in.
“Obviously Australia has been my happy place. The place where I have had the most Slam wins is Melbourne, and I would love to come back. I missed playing in Perth too,” he said.
Djokovic converted three of the seven break points he earned to surprise the Serbian contingent in the stands of the RAC Arena. Since the beginning of 2007, he is now 17-1 in season-opening games.
The 36-year-old Djokovic has one more match before the calendar year ends when he teams up with Olga Danilovic in the mixed doubles later on Sunday evening.
Before then, China will be hoping to get back into the draw quickly as they look for a place in the quarter-finals on their United Cup debut. The Asian nation will watch WTA world number 15 Zheng Qinwen, who next meets number 104 Danilovic in the WTA singles match, as it looks to confirm its first 3-0 victory against the Czech Republic.
“I was a little rusty in the beginning, a little out of rhythm in the first five or six games, but that’s normal,” Djokovic said after the match. “When you don’t play an official match for more than a month, it obviously takes some time to get the engines going and he served well. I think the service from my end was great. “Every time I wanted to get myself out of trouble, at 15/15 or 30/30 in my service games, I found a good serve,” he said.