Djokovic cedes Australian Open set in 1st Rd; 1st since 2006

vak Djokovic did something he hn't in 14 years: He dropped a set in a first-round match at Australian Open. That didn't bor him, though. He actually looked upon challenge he faced Monday night under closed roof at Rod Laver Arena as a good thing.

“I actually like tough first rounds — in Grand Slams, particularly,” defending champion at Melbourne Park said after getting past 37th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (5), 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. “Because it gets me going. From beginning, I have to be alert. I have to be on a high level. And I think I was.”

Djokovic last ceded a set in an Australian Open opener all way back in 2006, during a loss to Paul Goldstein. Since n, 16-time Grand Slam champ h produced 13 consecutive straight-set wins in hard-court tournament's first round; d in initial pair of sets against Struff, and streak was at 41.

But n came a bit of a blip.

Struff mand to break Djokovic three times in that third set alone.

“He turned it around. He was t missing much," second-seeded Djokovic said. "Credit to him for fighting. He's a very powerful player.”

Also worth mentioning: Djokovic helped his opponent by faltering with two double-faults on last two points of set.

Soon, though, he regrouped, taking eight of nine points to begin fourth and was on his way to 900th match win of his career. last set took all of 22 minutes.

first set offered its own hiccups for Djokovic. He was a point away from taking it while serving for set at 5-3 before finding himself locked in a tiebreaker against big-hitting Struff, who has lost in first round in 16 of his 26 career major appearances.

Djokovic began to show signs of frustration, rolling his eyes and spreing his arms wide, as if to say, "What is going on here?!" after one miss, hanging his he and slumping his shoulders after ar. Eventually, he came through re.

All in all, even with some less-than-perfect patches, Djokovic considered evening a satisfactory way to launch his bid for a record eighth title in Melbourne.

“I ended this match in a good fashion, in right way,” Djokovic said, “and this is very positive.”