By Erik Gudris / Monday, January 13, 2014
Defending champion Novak Djokovic won his 22nd straight match in a row in Melbourne on opening night at the Australian Open.
Photo Credit: Corleve
It's 22 and counting for Novak Djokovic, who started his Australian Open title defense with a straight sets win on Monday night.
Taking on Lukas Lacko in his first match of the 2014 season, Djokovic showed perfection and some rust throughout the first round contest. Djokovic stomed out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but then traded breaks with Lacko before closing out the set 6-3.
No. 96 Lacko didn't back down as he forced Djokovic into a second set tiebreak. But Djokovic rose to the occasion and claimed it seven points to two.
With a final ace, Djokovic soon wrapped up the 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-1 victory that extended the Serbian's win streak in Melbourne to 22 wins.
"I know that I haven't played my best, especially in the second set," Djokovic said later about the match. "But, look, also credit to my opponent that was playing really nice tennis from the baseline. On the other hand I was a little bit too passive in some stages of the match and was trying to find the proper, I would say, setting and proper balance and footing in the court. It came at the right time, in the tiebreak in the second, and the whole third set was great."
When asked about his new coaching relationship with Boris Becker and how it is working out so far, Djokovic said that he and the former No. 1 were still getting to know each other.
"I still see the room for improvement with my serve, with the return, with net play and so forth. But also from the mental point of view. Boris has won so many Grand Slam tournaments, was No. 1 of the world. He knows exactly the way I feel, what I need to face, what sort of challenges I need to overcome during the tough moments, the tough matches. That's also where he can give the right and positive input. We'll see. It's just the beginning."
Djokovic will next take on Argentina's Leonardo Mayer in the second round.