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The one seed and top contender for the 2023 Australian Open has pulled through a scare in the second round. Djokovic, the nine-time champion, was pushed to his limits in this four-set match. As many expected, he breezed through the opening set, taking down his younger and less experienced opponent 6-1. Yet when the second set started, it was clear that Couacaud of France was beginning to settle in.
The Frenchman, who is ranked 191 in the world, played some breathtaking tennis to push Djokovic into a second-set tie-breaker. And amazingly, the qualifier won the breaker by a score of 7-5. This equaled things at a set apiece on Rod Laver Arena, and the crowd was going slightly wild for Couacoud, understandably so. As for the overall level of tennis, the second set took almost 1 hour and 15 mins to finish.
This shows that the rallies were prolonged and that the games were tight throughout. Yet despite the euphoria of the Aussie crowd following the second set, Djokovic did what he always does when his back is against the wall. He seemed to get angry at himself, the fans, the umpire, and whoever else to spark himself into action. Yet above all, he raised his level of tennis significantly at just the flick of a switch.
From here, he dominated the Frenchman and took the next two sets 6-2, 6-0. Interestingly, these last two sets took less time than the second set did. So because of this, Djokovic moves on to face Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. Yet I have a few other things to share surrounding this match before this third-round match arrives.
Australian Open 2023 – Novak Djokovic Marches On
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Like all great champions, Djokovic found a way to win this match. Then again, this is something that he has managed to do throughout his career – hence the 21 Grand Slam titles sitting in his locker. Of course, it’s great that he found a way to win, but he did look a little vulnerable. So let me give my thoughts on the hamstring and the next-round match against Dimitrov.
The Hamstring Issue
We all know that Djokovic is dealing with a hamstring issue at the moment. This is something that he picked up during his title run in Adelaide. Yet when I watched him competing against Couacaud in this game, it seemed obvious that he was hampered by the hamstring. He had it heavily strapped, as expected, yet there were many balls that he wasn’t chasing down at certain times of the match.
For me, this is a clear sign that the hamstring is causing problems, and it’s definitely a worry moving forward.
Upcoming Clash With Dimitrov
In the next round, Djokovic will play against Grigor Dimitrov in what will be their 11th meeting. On that note, Djokovic leads the head-to-head against Dimitrov by 9-1. So to say that he is the favorite would be a pretty sizable understatement. However, they’ve only played twice in a Grand Slam before, and those matches date back to 2013/2014.
Dimitrov is also playing some great tennis having not dropped a set in his first two rounds. So this upcoming game might be slightly tastier than the head-to-head leads us to believe.
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