Out then in, Djokovic plays a set in Adelaide exhibition

MELBOURNE: World number one Novak Djokovic pulled out of an Adelaide exhibition because of a blistered hand on Friday before appearing on court to play a set after all, helping his compatriot Filip Krajinovic beat Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic was scheduled to kick off the “Day at the Drive” event in front of a crowd of 4,000 at Adelaide’s Memorial Drive Tennis Club but pulled out minutes bef­ore he was due on court and was replaced by Krajinovic.

After his practice partner had won the first set, however, Djokovic bounded into the arena and proceeded to wrap up a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Italian teenager.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t step in on the court from the beginning,” said Djokovic, who was celebrating his first day of freedom after 14 days in quarantine. “I had to do some treatment with my physio, I wasn’t feeling my best for the last two days and I didn’t know how I was going to react.”

Djokovic looked to be largely unhindered by the nasty-looking blister on the palm of his right hand.

“It’s not easy but it’s part of what we do, we’re professional athletes, we learn over the years to play with the pain,” he added.

Djokovic and Krajinovic will join forces again in the Serbia team defending the ATP Cup in Melbourne next week before the former launches his bid for a ninth Australian Open title from February 8.

Serena Williams beat Naomi Osaka 6-2, 2-6 (10-7) in a ‘super breaker’ in the second match with both players united in their excitement at playing in front of fans.

“We haven’t played in front of a crowd in over a year so it’s been a really long time,” said Serena, who has been isolating with her three-year-old daughter. “We were so happy just to be here. Now it’s worth it.”

Both players showed obvious signs of rustiness, hitting set-up winners out of play or netting relatively easy shots.

Asked what she did on her first day of freedom, Serena said she and her daughter headed to the zoo.

“We had a calendar in our room and every day we marked an x on the days that went by and a big circle on the quarantine ending day, and we promised that we would take her to the zoo to see koalas and kangaroos,” said the American.

A few hours later Rafa Nadal took down Dominic Thiem 7-5, 6-4 in a highly entertaining encounter between the men’s world number two and three under artificial lights.

In an on-court interview following his win, the oft-injured Nadal had a deadpan response when asked how he stays so young-looking at the age of 34.

“You are not in my body,” Nadal replied, smiling.

Women’s world number one Ash Barty and number two Simona Halep then met in the final match to wrap up things with the Romanian prevailing in a final set tie-breaker 3-6, 6-1 (10-8) over the local favourite.

In Melbourne, the first of the players to leave quarantine were greeted with the city’s often fickle weather rain showers.

The National Tennis Centre at Melbourne Park has eight indoor courts and officials were expected to be inundated with requests from players, particularly those who have been in hard lockdown, for court time.

Those 72 players, who were on board the same three charter flights as the nine passengers who tested positive to Covid-19, have been unable to leave their rooms while others have been able to train for up to five hours a day.

Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said players who had been in hard lockdown would be given priority.

“We’re going to have a great deal of empathy for supporting those who have been in hard lockdown and I’ve already made that commitment to them,” Tiley said.