The brand new experience of a Sunday night start against a dazzling 18-year-old talent ultimately didn’t quite derail Novak Djokovic.
Nobody, though, could have predicted just how hard the 10-time Australian Open men’s singles champion would have to focus and fight to get through his opening match at Melbourne Park.
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On paper, the meeting looked like a formality. A 24-times Grand Slam champion who hadn’t lost an Australian Open singles match since 2018 taking on Dino Prizmic, a Croatian 18-year-old qualifier making his debut at a major.
But after a one-sided opening set, Djokovic was pushed to his limits for long periods before finally outlasting the inspired teenager 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 in one minute over four hours.
Arguably the Serb’s most dangerous moments came when Prizmic went up a break of serve in the third set, only for Djokovic to turn the match around just in time.
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Once the 18-year-old had left to a standing ovation, everyone inside Rod Laver Arena wanted to hear Djokovic’s assessment of what he’d just witnessed.
“He deserves every applause and credit he got tonight,” the top seed admitted. “He’s an amazing player, so mature for his age. He handled himself on the court incredibly well.
“This is his moment and it could have easily been his match as well. He was a break up in the third, he fought even though he was 4-0 down and a break point down [in the fourth]. He showed great mentality, resilience and he made me really run for my money tonight.
“An amazing performance for someone who is 18 years old who doesn’t have the experience of playing on a big stage. We’re going to see a lot of him in the future.”
Nobody knew quite what to expect from a player who had played just nine tour level matches. When the trainer arrived to strap Prizmic's left thigh when he was already down a break of serve at 2-3 in the opening set, many will have been expecting a quick contest.
But once Djokovic had eased through that first set, Prizmic, last year’s Roland Garros boys’ champion, sprang to life.
After engineering a chance to break in the fourth game of the second, the right-hander from Split produced the kind of forehand winner any top-10 player would have been proud of, and from that moment worked Djokovic extremely hard.
A tight second set went the distance, and an edgy and impatient Djokovic allowed the youngster to build a 6-2 lead in the tiebreak. The first three set points disappeared quickly, but more discipline and durability from the back of the court allowed Prizmic to convert his fourth set point to level the match.
Djokovic responded strongly to surge ahead 2-0 in the third set, and back came Prizmic. With the set locked at 2-2, world feed commentator John Fitzgerald began wondering out loud whether the unthinkable was now a distinct possibility.
“I know it’s too early to ask this, but I’m going to ask it anyway,” he said to colleague Josh Eagle. “Can he win this?” It was an outcome we were all now taking seriously.
Right on cue, the qualifier broke for 3-2 only for that turn of events to shock Djokovic into life. He quickly levelled at 3-3, then held from 15-40 for a 4-3 lead and from there made his greater stamina and consistency tell as he built a two sets to one lead.
Once the third set had slipped away, the 18-year-old began to tire and although he kept fighting long enough to cut a 0-4 deficit in the fourth, in truth the damage had been done, Djokovic eventually completing his 29th consecutive match win at Melbourne Park.
“I started off very well for a 36-year-old guy,” the world No.1 joked afterwards. “Jeez, when you think about it, I’m double his age.
“I struggled in many different moments tonight but it was due to him, due to his incredible gameplan. He had an answer for anything. He was very physical.”
Djokovic will benefit from 48 hours rest and will be back on Wednesday to face one of two Australians, the winner of Monday’s first round meeting between Alexei Popyrin and wildcard Marc Polmans.