Novak Djokovic fires in his United Cup opener

Justin Chadwick and George Clarke | January 1, 2024

World No.1 Novak Djokovic has finished 2023 with a bang, trouncing China’s Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 6-2 to give Serbia a 1-0 lead in their United Cup tie.

Zhang put up a fight early in Sunday night’s match at Perth’s RAC Arena, with his strong serving keeping Djokovic at bay for a while.

But the wheels fell off in the second set for the world No.58 as Djokovic unleashed his full force.

Djokovic’s swift movement around the court and powerful groundstrokes wore Zhang down, with the 24-time grand slam winner racing to a 4-0 lead in the second set on the way to victory.

The star Serb, who will be aiming to snare a record 11th Australian Open in January, sealed victory after just 72 minutes with an ace down the line. 

The big difference in the match was the unforced errors, with Djokovic committing just nine to Zhang’s 29.

Djokovic’s win gave world No.119 Olga Danilovic the chance to wrap up the tie for Serbia if she could score an upset victory over world No.15 Zheng Qinwen in the women’s singles.

“I was a little bit rusty at the beginning. I was out of the tempo, rhythm for maybe the first five, six games,” Djokovic said.

“But that’s normal when you don’t play an official match for over a month. It takes a little bit of time to get the engines going.

“He was serving well, he had nothing much to lose.

“When I broke his serve at 3-2 in the first set, I felt the momentum shift to my side.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s quarter-finals hopes hinge on a must-win meeting with reigning champions the USA after the Americans’ 2-1 victory over Great Britain.

The British took an early lead in Sunday’s tie against the US when Katie Boulter upset world No.5 Jessica Pegula 5-7 6-4 6-4. 

World No.10 Taylor Fritz, who will face Alex de Minaur on Monday night, squared the ledger for the Americans with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win over Cameron Norrie.

Fritz and Pegula claimed the mixed doubles with a 1-6 7-6 10-7 (match tiebreak) victory over Boulter and Neal Skupski.

Australia, beaten 2-1 by Britain on the tournament’s opening night, must defeat the US 3-0 on Monday night to be guaranteed a quarter-final berth.

Fritz had to take a medical time out in his singles match after struggling with a quad injury sustained through extra sprint training. 

“It’s always a battle with Cam and it got pretty close at the end of the first set, but in the second I just hung in there with my serve,” Fritz said.

“I don’t really sprint that often but I carried that into today. 

“I felt really sore and I overdid it running for a drop shot but I got through.” 

Elsewhere on Sunday, former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez showed her class by powering Canada to a 2-1 victory over Chile.

The world No.35 made light work of Daniela Seguel in the women’s singles with a 6-2 6-3 win at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena, before teaming up with Steven Diez in the mixed doubles.

Diez, who lost 7-5 6-4 to Nicolas Jarry in the singles rubber, stepped in for Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was sidelined with a minor knee issue.

The pairing of Diez and 21-year-old Fernandez were made to fight their way past Tomas Barrios Vera and Seguel, eventually prevailing 10-8 in a match tiebreak after sharing sets 7-5 4-6.