Novak Djokovic played his first match of the 2023 season, and despite a great start, it didn't go according to his plans.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion made a decision to start the 2023 season on a doubles court. He signed up for the Adelaide International 1 with his good friend Vasek Pospisil, who he supported at this year's Davis Cup Finals. The duo took on Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar in the first round.
Djokovic and Pospisil had never played doubles together before but it wasn't apparent from the way they played in the first set. They created two chances to break their opponents in the first three games and after using the second one, they got an early lead in the match.
Thanks to solid serve and hitting four aces, they then lost only one more point on their serve to win the first set 6-4 in 38 minutes.
However, the second set was different. The Canadian-Serbian duo got broken first. In the very next game, they had four breakpoints but after being unable to use any of them, they eventually lost the second set 3-6 and a super tie-break had to decide it.
Djokovic and Pospisil were the first players to get a mini-break as they increased their lead to 4-3 in the super tie-break. But then, Brkic and Escobar won 7 out of the remaining 8 points to win the match 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
The Serbian will now focus on the singles even, in which he's scheduled to play against Constant Lestienne from France in the first round.
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