Novak Djokovic Beats Alexander Zverev During 'A Night With Novak' At Australian Open
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Novak Djokovic entertained the crowd at the Rod Laver Arena once again, delighting fans during "A Night With Novak."
Traditionally, Djokovic has a special night dedicated to him during the AO Opening Week ahead of the Australian Open. He's the most successful player in the history of the event, and fans in Melbourne love him.
Fans in Melbourne have already seen a few exhibition matches this year. Jannik Sinner won his exhibition match against Alexei Popyrin, Carlos Alcaraz lost his match to Alex de Minaur, and Qinwen Zheng bested Elina Svitolina.
On Thursday, Djokovic had a chance to organize his own exhibition, in which he was supposed to play against Nick Kyrgios. However, Kyrgios had to withdraw from the match after suffering an injury.
Instead, the Australian player was replaced by Alexander Zverev, who shared many big battles with the Serbian in the past. Djokovic won many important matches, but Zverev won two biggest, the ATP Finals final in 2018 and the Italian Open final in 2017.
This time, the match was obviously only an exhibition, but at times, it didn't look like it, with both players producing spectacular shots and rallies.
Zverev broke his opponent's serve already in the first game of the match, which was played in the best-of-one set format. He led 2-0 early in the match. Djokovic then held his serve to love to make it 1-2 from his point of view.
That's when the 24-time Grand Slam champion did the first mid-match interview, complimenting his opponent while saying that he wasn't happy about his own performance.
"He's looking good, he's got a good serve, and he's got a break, so I'm not happy with the way I'm playing right now, but it's just the beginning of the set."
Zverev was able to hold his serve in the following game to lead 3-1, and while he had a semi-chance in Djokovic's service game, leading 30-15, the Serbian player was able to hold his serve.
That proved to be crucial, as only a few games later, Djokovic was able to reduce the deficit, coming back from 2-4 down, even getting to a 5-4 lead.
Both players then held their serve, so a tie-break had to decide the match. Djokovic had the first two match points, leading 6-4, but Zverev was able to save both.
The Serbian player then created another match point chance at 7-6, and this time, he converted it to beat Zverev 7-6(6). Both players then did a short on-court interview before the German player left and more players arrived on the court.
Djokovic's new coach, Andy Murray, came along with Victoria Azarenka to team up in a mixed doubles match played in the Fast 4 Tennis format. To join Djokovic, last year's Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng arrived on the court.
The mixed doubles match could have been also called a golden match, as all four players competing have a gold medal from the Olympic Games. Two of them, Djokovic and Zheng, won it last year.
The match was incredibly entertaining, with Djokovic, Zheng, and Azarenka often making fun of Murray's fitness, as he was the only retired player on the court.
The match ultimately reached a tie-break at 4-4, and with the score locked at 4-4 in the tie-break as well, it was decided by one final point, which Zheng took to her hands to win the match for her and Djokovic, 5-4(4).
