Novak Djokovic can joke about the yellowish streak of dyed blond hair, given the passing of time since his Rod Laver Arena prime-time debut.
A 10-time champion at Melbourne Park in the years following that one-sided 2005 debut against eventual champion Marat Safin, the Serbian can count himself fortunate subsequent highlight reels tend to bury too much footage of his impromptu hair style from that maiden outing.
This year, the top seed opens his Australian Open title defence for the first time on a Sunday night intent on limiting any highlights to his performance rather than his hair when he meets the latest Balkan teenage prospect, Dino Prizmic.
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Fellow reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka also begins her bid for back-to-back Melbourne Park silverware against an 18-year-old qualifier on Sunday night when she takes on German Ella Seidel.
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While Djokovic was wary of his match-tested opponent, he was clear where his greatest threats rested.
“Myself always first, and then of course all the other best players in the world,” he smiled.
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“Any player is here with, I'm sure, intention to achieve the dream of winning a Grand Slam. Some players are obviously more expected to go further than some others.”
Like Djokovic in 2005, Croatian Prizmic has won through qualifying to book his Grand Slam debut under lights on Rod Laver Arena.
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If the mismatch on paper seemed substantial between the major champion and the teenager qualifier in 2005, it was even greater this time around, and any concerns about the top seed’s wrist injury sustained before a defeat to Alex de Minaur in Perth were allayed.
“My wrist is good. I had time from the last match against De Minaur in the United Cup to my first match here to recover,” he said. “I've been training well. Practice sessions pain-free so far. It's all looking good.”
Djokovic can secure sole ownership for most major singles titles ahead of Margaret Court’s two dozen should he prevail for an 11th time at the end of the Melbourne Park fortnight, while the age gap of 18 years and 75 days to his first-round opponent is the greatest in an Australian Open men’s showdown since Ken Rosewall downed qualifier Cary Stansbury at AO 1978.
Born in Split, the same city as Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic, Prizmic cites the world No.1 as his idol. On the cusp of the top 150, he is already making waves.
Last year, Prizmic became the first player to claim the Roland Garros boys’ singles title and a Challenger trophy in the same season since AO 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in 2003.
“For me every player is really good, but Djokovic has his mental strength. But … every player is good,” said Prizmic, who was only born seven months after Djokovic fell to Safin at AO 2005.
“The stadium will be full. I just want to play my best tennis and I don't have anything to lose.”
Second seed Sabalenka finally held her nerve and delivered on mounting expectations last year in an epic tussle with reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina for her maiden Grand Slam title.
Rounding out the first night session of AO 2024 on Sunday, the 25-year-old faces a relatively unknown quantity in Germany’s top-ranked teenager Seidel, a talent who has already has her name to a brand ambassadorship with luxury label Hugo Boss.
After a season in which she rose to and ultimately relinquished the No.1 ranking, Sabalenka did not concede more than six games through each of her first four matches of the season in Brisbane leading in, before Rybakina turned the tables on their previous Australian showdown in the final.
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The result left room and sufficient time to iron out any problems before her Melbourne return.
“I feel really great. I had an incredible season last year, improved a lot as a player and as a person,” Sabalenka said. “I did really a great pre-season, we worked a lot. I felt like we improved a lot … Before the finals, I think I played really great tennis. Everything worked on the pre-season. Everything worked on match.”
While yet to test himself in any official lead-up competition, men’s fourth seed Jannik Sinner will hit the ground running in Sunday's opening match at Rod Laver Arena.
After splitting meetings with Djokovic at the ATP Finals, Sinner narrowly denied the Serbian again en route to guiding Italy to its first Davis Cup triumph since 1976 in November.
How much this has emboldened the 22-year-old on the shift to the season’s opening major remains to be seen, but he starts refreshed and hungry against world No.59 Botic van de Zandschulp, whom he has never faced.
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“I have still the confidence inside me, for sure,” Sinner said. “In the other way, every season is different. Every tournament is different. Honestly, I missed being a little bit out of competition in the last one and a half, two months or so.”
Following Sinner, eighth seed Maria Sakkari begins her campaign at what she considers the closest to a home Slam, thanks to Melbourne’s boisterous Greek supporter base.
The two-time major semifinalist faces 29-year-old world No.56 Nao Hibino for the second time, having beaten the Japanese player in the second round at Melbourne Park three years ago.
Comeback mum Caroline Wozniacki steps out at MCA on Sunday night when she faces last year’s semifinalist, 20th seed Magda Linette.
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In only her second major back since her AO 2020 retirement, the Dane will carry a 2-0 record into the clash, but the pair haven’t crossed paths in six years.