Novak Djokovic clinched his spot in the Australian Open second round on Sunday evening, taking out the 18-year-old Dino Prizmic. But much of the storyline of the match was centered around Prizmic, a feisty player who brought more to the table than many fans expected. In the end, Djokovic won 6-2 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4, in a thrilling four-hour battle in front of a capacity crowd at Rod Laver Arena.
Who is Prizmic?
The four hours Djokovic spent on the court was the longest first round match he played in his entire career. Prizmic, representing Croatia, made his Grand Slam main draw and qualified to get to this stage. He can fire his forehand at high speeds and stays at the baseline, and has incredible grit and determination for an 18-year-old.
Prizmic made his Davis Cup debut last September, losing his two matches to Mackenzie Mcdonald and Otto Virtanen. He achieved his maiden Top 30 win over Jiri Lehecka in Stockholm last October, only dropping service once. Yet, arguably his biggest achievement came at last year’s junior French Open, where he won the title. Second to that achievement: an ATP Challenger Tour title in Bosnia and Herzegovina last summer.
Despite Prizmic’s successful qualifying campaign, he’ll drop in the rankings due to defending quarterfinalist points from an ATP Challenger event. Yet, he’ll surely prefer this result. Not only was his performance admirable, he cited Djokovic as his idol.
“My tennis inspiration is Novak Djokovic, he’s my idol because of his mental strength,” Prizmic said in an interview with ATP Challenger Tour media. “Physically … every match he’s ready.”
How did he push Novak?
Prizmic’s excellence in long rallies pushed Djokovic to his limits. While Djokovic led the short rallies in the second and third set, winning 55% of points, Prizmic took advantage of the essential long rallies. Long rallies, as defined by Australian Open’s new Infosys Matchbeats analysis, consist of points nine-shots or more. Prizmic won 23 long rallies to just 14 from Djokovic, during the second and third set.
For example, he won a 22-shot rally early in the second set to set up break point, firing up the crowd. After claiming the momentum with the long rally, he fired a huge forehand passing shot to break serve for the first time, and put Djokovic on the back foot for arguably the next hour of the match.
Prizmic won another epic rally early in the third set, this time ending at 15 shots. Similar to the second set, winning the long point eventually allowed him to break Djokovic’s serve minutes later. Young players often crumble under pressure at those points. Not for Prizmic.
But Prizmic will have to improve his serve to make the next step on tour. He hit seven double faults at in-opportune times and many of his serve patterns were predictable. Prizmic also won just 31 percent of points on his second serve. Djokovic is one of the best returners in the game, but Prizmic should look to improve on his second serve to better protect his service games.
Prizmic also fought off nerves valiantly, going for his shots as the underdog. Fans often expect that from the young player, with nothing to lose and no pressure on the underdog’s shoulders. He’ll have to continue to look to play the better points in the long rallies, and learn to win as the favorite at future ATP Challenger events. A solid next few months of tournament play could boost his ranking in the Top 100, and that will give him plenty of opportunities to challenge the best-of-the-best in ATP tour-level events.
“He deserved all the applause and all the credit he got tonight, he’s an amazing player, so mature,” Djokovic said on court after the match. “He really gave me a run for my money.”
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
