French tennis player Constant Lestienne suffered a straight-set defeat to Novak Djokovic at the Adelaide International but had one highlight moment. During the second set, Lestienne pulled off a no-look move on Djokovic. Djokovic fell for the move and the Serb went one direction while the shot went in the opposite direction.
The Adelaide crowd certainly appreciated Lestienne’s move as they rewarded the Frenchman with applause.
Djokovic had no problems against Lestienne
In his first official singles match of the 2023 season, Djokovic cruised past Lestienne with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win.
Lestienne was actually the first player to have a break point but Djokovic saved the Frenchman’s first break point in the fifth game. After saving a break point, Djokovic earned the first break of the match in the sixth game.
Then, Djokovic held on to his serve for the rest of the set to win the first set. After winning the first set, Djokovic got off to an outstanding start to the second set, earning back-to-back breaks to open a 4-0 lead. Up by a set and two breaks, Djokovic routinely closed out the match.
After the match, Djokovic admitted that he was glad with his performance in his first singles match of the year. “For the first match I can’t complain. I played very well. I thought the first six games were very competitive and I have never faced him before.
He is a counterpuncher, he doesn’t make too many mistakes. He has a tricky serve, hits his spots. But once I made that break at 3-2 in the first set I thought I stepped it up and played really good tennis for the rest of the match,” Djokovic said after the match.
Meanwhile, Djokovic and Lestienne were playing against each other for the first time. In his next match, Djokovic plays another Frenchman, Quentin Halys. Seven years ago, Djokovic defeated Halys at the Australian Open. Now, Djokovic and Halys are set to meet for the second time, again in Australia. Again, Djokovic is the big favorite to win.
