Djokovic: "I'm not worried about blisters but..."

It was his 75th consecutive victory at the opening-round stage of a Grand Slam tournament, making him unique in the Open era.

After an unusual match, Djokovic defeated the American teenager in three sets, while the American is waiting for him in the second round as well.

After the victory, the Grand Slam champion said immediately on the court that the match was quite strange.

"I started great, it took me about 20 minutes to wrap up the first set, and then some long games at the beginning of the second set and I started to feel quite strange in the second set. We had long exchanges, but I also made a lot of unforced ones and brought him back into the match. I'm glad that I reset after the second set and in the third I was okay," Djokovic said at the press conference.

JOHN ANGELILLO / UPI / Profimedia

At the end of the second set, he was visibly struggling to move.

“I don't have any injury or anything. I just struggled a lot to stay in long exchanges and recover after points. There was quite a bit of tension on the court, playing a young American, night session. For me, I haven't played a match, official match, in six weeks. I had to deliver my A-game, which I did I think in the first set. Particularly in the second, it was surviving on the court. But in the important moments I just put one ball more in the court than he did”, Novak said.

However, immediately after winning the second set, he asked for medical help.

"I didn't talk about the blisters at all when I talked about struggling on the field. The blister bothered me, but it wasn't a big problem, I don't worry about the blisters, more about how well I recovered after the points", Djokovic explained.

“I think it was also good to experience that, in a sense, kind of break the ice officially in the tournament. Looking forward to the next challenge”, Novak concluded.