The OG of tennis, Novak Djokovic has advanced to the third round of the Australian Open after thrashing a 23-year-old newbie, Francesco Maestrelli, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at Melbourne.
Djokovic made a strong start in the first set by breaking serve early and using his strong returns and steady groundstrokes to keep Maestrelli under pressure.
Although Maestrelli fought back at times and saved a few set points with good serving, Djokovic stayed calm and finished the set 6–3 by forcing mistakes and serving accurately.
In the second set, Djokovic again broke serve early and kept control from that point on, playing smoothly and making Maestrelli work hard for every point, which led to a 6–2 set win.
The third set saw both players break serve early, giving Maestrelli a short boost in confidence, but Djokovic quickly raised his level, broke again, and closed out the set 6–2.
Addressing the media after the match, Djokovic admitted that it was challenging to prepare for this match, as he had no background information on his opponent, who was making his first debut in a Grand Slam.
“I didn’t know much about him (Maestrelli) until a few days ago, it happens more often than not these days,” Djokovic said about his 23-year-old opponent.
“But the respect is always there and I didn’t underestimate him. He’s got a big serve and a big game, only lacking a bit of experience. He’s got the game to go far and high in the world rankings and I wish him that.”
Djokovic will face Botic van de Zandschulp on Saturday. Novak Djokovic and Botic van de Zandschulp have faced each other twice on the ATP Tour. Their head-to-head record is tied 1–1. The first time they met was at the 2022 Astana Open, where Djokovic won 6-3, 6-1 in the round of 16.
Their second meeting came at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (second round), where van de Zandschulp won 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
