Australian Open: Djokovic comes through early test to beat Basavareddy

Novak Djokovic, the No 7 seed, beat American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who was pushed hard by a thoroughly impressive showing from the 19-year-old Basavareddy.

With new coach – and former arch rival – Andy Murray watching on from his coaches’ box, Djokovic fell a set behind as he failed to convert his break-point opportunities while Basavareddy took his chances well.

As the second set moved into its eighth game, Djokovic came under increasing pressure and looked rattled as he still couldn’t find the elusive break.

But in that eighth game it finally came, with the Serb duly serving out the set to draw the match level. Djokovic then broke once in the third and twice in the fourth as he came through a testing encounter to keep his hopes of a record-extending 11th Australian Open title alive.

“In the end, it was a great result,” Djokovic said after the win.

“I think he was the better player for a set and a half, and he deserves every bit of the applause that he got when he was leaving the court. It was a great performance from him.

“To be really honest with you, I had never seen him play up to maybe three days ago so I didn’t know much about him.

“These kind of matches are always tricky and dangerous, especially when you’re playing against somebody who hasn’t got anything to lose with it being his first match ever at a Grand Slam level.

“He is a very complete player and he did very pleasantly surprise me with his shots and his fighting spirit towards the end. I wish him all the best for the rest of his career.”

Djokovic, ranked No 7, will face Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria next.

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 60.627.573, most recent results first):

• Andrey Rublev vs. Joao Fonseca
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Corentin Moutet
• Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Alex De Minaur
• Lorenzo Sonego vs. Stan Wawrinka
• Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Denis Shapovalov
• Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Kamil Majchrzak
• Tristan Boyer vs. Federico Coria
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Flavio Cobolli
• Marcos Giron vs. Yannick Hanfmann
• Rinky Hijikata vs. Mitchell Krueger
• Matteo Arnaldi vs. Lorenzo Musetti
• Ben Shelton vs. Brandon Nakashima
• Kasidit Samrej vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Francisco Comesana vs. Daniel Altmaier
• Facundo Diaz Acosta vs. Zizou Bergs
• Camilo Ugo Carabelli vs. Learner Tien
• Gael Monfils vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
• Borna Coric vs. Cristian Garin
• Taylor Fritz vs. Jenson Brooksby
• Francisco Cerundolo vs. Alexander Bublik
• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Holger Rune
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Karen Khachanov
• Gabriel Diallo vs. Luca Nardi
• Matteo Berrettini vs. Cameron Norrie
• Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Dusan Lajovic
• Christopher O’Connell vs. Tommy Paul: monday
• Francesco Passaro (LL) beat Grigor Dimitrov (10): 7-5, 2-1 ret.
• Benjamin Bonzi beat David Goffin: 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7)
• Jacob Fearnley beat Nick Kyrgios: 7-6 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (2)
• Carlos Alcaraz (3) beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-1, 7-5, 6-1
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Juncheng Shang: 7-6 (1), 5-2 ret.
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (29) beat Jan-Lennard Struff: 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
• Jaime Faria beat Pavel Kotov: 6-1, 6-1, 7-5
• Sebastian Korda (22) beat Lukas Klein (Q): 6-3, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
• Yoshihito Nishioka beat Aziz Dougaz (Q): 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3
• Arthur Cazaux beat Sebastian Baez (28): 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3
• Thanasi Kokkinakis beat Roman Safiullin: 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
• Jack Draper (15) beat Mariano Navone: 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Aleksandar Vukic beat Damir Dzumhur: 6-7 (3), 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Tristan Schoolkate (WC) beat Taro Daniel: 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-4
• Jordan Thompson (27) beat Dominik Koepfer (Q): 7-6 (3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (1) beat Nicolas Jarry: 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-1
• James McCabe (WC) beat Martin Landaluce (Q): 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
• James Duckworth beat Dominic Stricker: 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
• Fabian Marozsan beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
• Nuno Borges beat Alexandre Muller: 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2, 7-5
• Roberto Carballes Baena beat Alejandro Tabilo (23): 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (1)
• Jakub Mensik beat Nikoloz Basilashvili (Q): 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3
• Frances Tiafoe (17) beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-6 (2), 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3
• Alex Michelsen beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (11): 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (2) beat Lucas Pouille (WC): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Quentin Halys beat Adam Walton: 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 7-5
• Reilly Opelka beat Gauthier Onclin (Q): 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2
• Ugo Humbert (14) beat Matteo Gigante (Q): 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-4
• Pedro Martinez Portero beat Luciano Darderi: 6-3, 4-1 ret.
• Tomas Machac (26) beat Sumit Nagal: 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
• Jiri Lehecka (24) beat Li Tu (WC): 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1)
• Hady Habib (Q) beat Yunchaokete Bu: 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6)
• Casper Ruud (6) beat Jaume Munar: 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1
• Kei Nishikori beat Thiago Monteiro (Q): 4-6, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
• Arthur Fils (20) beat Otto Virtanen: 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4
• Hugo Gaston beat Omar Jasika (WC): 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2