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A grateful Novak Djokovic has cruised his way to victory in his opening match of the United Cup for Serbia.
The 24-time grand slam winner dubbed Australia his “happy place” after defeating China’s Zhien Zhang 6-2, 6-2 in Perth on Sunday night.
“Thank you for coming and celebrating the new year’s with us tonight,” Djokovic told Jim Courier on Channel Nine’s post-match coverage.
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“Australia has been my happy place, the place where I’ve made the most (grand) slam wins in Melbourne.”
Despite believing he had a “slow start”, the 36-year-old managed to snatch victory after just over an hour of play.
“I was a little bit rusty at the beginnings, out of tempo … in the first five, six games, when you don’t play an official match for over a month,” he said.
“The serve was great on my part, whenever I needed to get out of trouble.
“The momentum shifted through to my side.”
The crowd was behind the Serbian all match, heard cheering “Novak” during breaks in play.
“To win straight sets, the first match of my season is great,” he said.
He was set return to take on China’s Zhizhen Zhang and Qinwen Zheng with his mixed doubles partner Olga Danilovic later in the night, in hopes of helping Serbia to victory.
Watch Australia take on the United States and Great Britain in the 2024 United Cup from December 29. Every match ad free and on demand on Stan Sport
