Novak Djokovic earned his 100th win at the Australian Open, and then reminisced about his body (Image: Channel 9)
Novak Djokovic left the Rod Laver Arena crowd blushing after clinching his 100th match win at the Australian Open. The No. 4 seed hadn’t played a match in 72 days, but he showed no signs of rust as he breezed past Pedro Martinez 6-3 6-2 6-2, his forehand and serve looking sharp.
This is Djokovic’s 21st appearance at Melbourne Park. He made his debut as a qualifier in 2005, losing to eventual champion Marat Safin in the first round. Some of Djokovic’s 100 Aussie Open wins were shown on the big screen inside Rod Laver Arena on Monday – and attention quickly turned to his body.
“It’s great to be back once again on definitely my favourite court, and a court that has given me so much. I’ve tried to give it back as much as I could in the last 20-plus years, and hopefully you guys enjoyed the tennis,” Djokovic told the fans, before his milestone 100th win was brought up.
“I mean, what can I say? I like the sound of it, Centurion is pretty nice, a nice feeling to be a Centurion in these numbers. I always give my best whenever I’m on the court. Obviously, history-making is a great motivation, particularly in the last five, 10 years of my career. Once I got myself in the position that I could eventually create history, I was even more inspired to play the best tennis, and that’s what I’ve done.”
Djokovic then took a trip down memory lane as his debut Aussie Open match against Safin was shown on the screens. “In 2005, I coloured my hair for the first and only time in my life just before the match with Marat,” he recalled. “Of course, the first call I received after the match – which was a blowout obviously for Marat, but for me the first main draw experience – the first call I received was my mother, she asked me, What the hell are you thinking about, colouring your hair?”
Footage of Djokovic’s maiden Grand Slam triumph here in 2008 also played, as did his record five-hour and 53-minute win over Rafael Nadal in the 2012 final. He continued: “So it’s a unique experience now, rolling back the years, obviously the longest and best finals I was ever part of with the greatest rival, Nadal. It feels commenting, you know?”
Novak Djokovic ‘got excited’ while speaking about his body as footage of his previous wins played (Image: Channel 9)
In the old footage, Djokovic celebrated his title win by ripping off his shirt. And the on-court interviewer noted that he had taken care of his body.
“I wish I could bring back that body, to be honest! Not for the beach, not for the looks, but for the functionality on the court,” the 38-year-old grinned. “I think it served me well. I mean, I’m happy with my body so far, although things are different 15 years later.”
The microphone started to drift away from Djokovic, and he joked: “But nevertheless, can I keep on speaking, sorry? I’m speaking about my body, so I get excited, you know what I mean?”
The interviewer quipped that he was getting excited too, and the Serbian superstar replied: “Actually, I mean thank you, but no. And speaking of which, did I say I like my body?”
Djokovic will be back out in the second round as he seeks his 101st win at the Australian Open over Francesco Maestrelli, a 23-year-old Italian qualifier who made his Grand Slam main draw debut here and beat Terenca Atmane in round one.