Dino Prizmic, the 18-year-old boy who is aiming for the impossible at his first Australian Open: dethroning Djokovic

Novak Djokovic does not lose a game in Australian Open since January 22, 2018, when he surprisingly lost in the round of 16 against the Korean Hyeon Chung. Since then, he has done so 29 consecutive victories and has lifted the trophy in four of the last five editions of the first Grand Slam of the season (he was unable to play for it in 2022 due to his anti-vaccine stance).

Whoever will have the difficult task of stopping the Serbian, who moves like no one else at Melbourne Park, will be Dino Prizmic, an 18-year-old Croatian whose legs will probably shake when he has to enter the Rod Laver Arena to play his first match in the main draw of a Major against his idol, lord and master of this tournament.

Likewise, he takes it in stride. “I just know that the stadium will be full and that’s why it will be fantastic to play. “It will be a wonderful experience for me, I want to see how I behave with a tennis player who has won everything he could” he told Bosnian outlet Sport Klub.

In his first qually of a “great”, accepted the dream match this Sunday, at 5 in the morning in Argentina, after beating first the Argentine Mariano Navone 5-7, 6-3 and 6-2, then his compatriot Duje Ajduković ( 7-5 and 6-0) and, finally, the Tunisian Mohamed Aziz Dougaz (6-3 and 6-4).

Now he will face the world number 1, who has suffered a wrist injury and is keeping his ambitions at maximum. “It’s not a secret. I express my goals and openly say that I want to win every Grand Slam tournament I enter. That won’t change,” Nole said. And he added: “I hope to start the season like I’ve started most seasons of my career, with a title here.”

Prizmic was born on August 5, 2005 in Split, the second most populated city in Croatia after its capital (Zagreb), and Djokovic himself was one of the main motivations he had for starting to play tennis from an early age.

“He is my inspiration in tennis. He is my idol because of his physical and mental strength. I always try to play my best tennis in difficult moments, like he does,” The 178th ranked player in the world told the ATP.

Months before his birth, at the beginning of that same 2005, Djokovic played the first Grand Slam of his career, again in Australia. He also passed the previous stage by losing a set and also had to face a tennis player superior, the Russian Marat Safin, world number 4, who would have won the title that year. Curious coincidences.

The young Croatian, a real promise, dreams of partially emulating what the Serbian has done and has great potential, but at the moment it is just an interesting project in progress.

That’s how it is only three victories in major circuit tournaments. Two of them were at the ATP 250 in Umag, for which he received an invitation and reached the quarterfinals, and the remaining, the most important, was against the Czech Jiri Lehecka (30th in the world) in Stockholm, all in 2023.

Furthermore, last year he played the first Challengers outside his country, tournaments in which he faced Top 100 players such as Dominic Thiem, Jack Draper and Hugo Gastón, and won in August in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the most important title of his budding career.

Previously, it was Roland Garros junior champion, after beating Bolivian Juan Carlos Prado Ángelo in last season’s final on Philippe Chatrier’s clay, his favorite surface.

How does Dino Prizmic, Djokovic’s rival, play?

The Croatian stands out for his consistency from the baseline and patience in working on points from that position, while at the same time having good variations to defend himself and resist attacks from rivals.

At the same time, he handles the backhand slice very well, a shot that allows him to often switch from defense to attack, and has excellent mobility. Its weak point: the service.

In any case, these are the virtues that Djokovic also possesses, so he is expected to look for alternatives to get the Serbian out of the back of the court and make him as uncomfortable as possible.

Likewise, beyond the victory, which is difficult to imagine, your goal will also be to enjoy a special moment that will remain etched in your memory, regardless of the final result.