Dino Prizmic, a fairly unknown name amongst the casual fans of tennis, has now catapulted himself in a worldwide discussion. He may not have beaten Novak Djokovic yet, with the score standing at 2-6, 7-6(5), 3-5, but the Croatian teenager has shown enough promise to impress the world. And he may yet just deliver the most shocking Australian Open upset of the generation if he keeps this display up. All this less than year after winning the juniors Roland Garros and getting a congratulatory message from none other than his idol, Novak Djokovic.
After taking his time to settle down against the World No. 1, Prizmic lifted his game and energy to a level that has surprised Novak Djokovic and fans alike. It is not often that the 24-time Grand Slam champion is left cursing the crowd in frustration in his first round match at Australian Open after all. It is not just that the young Croat has taken a set off of the Serbian but the manner in which he is playing that has impressed one and all.
Prizmic is playing in a way that is reminiscent of his opponent. Court coverage, consistent line and depth and a killer return has made it feel like Novak Djokovic is playing a version of himself. And while many junior Grand Slam winners have fizzled out when they make the step up to the men’s category, Prizmic is making us believe he is different.
Less than 12 months ago, Novak Djokovic congratulated Prizmic on his Grand Slam title in Paris at Roland Garros. He posted on his Instagram, making Prizmic’s day with a post captioned, ‘Čestitke Dino’, meaning ‘Congratulations Dino’. Prizmic naturally was over the moon at this gesture by his idol.
“My reaction was like, ‘I can’t believe it!’ because Novak shared this post on Instagram story. It’s a big thing for me of course because he is my idol and I’m very happy about that.”
And now, Prizmic is living another dream, one that he may never have fathomed. Despite having to take a medical timeout and struggling with his thigh, the 18-year-old has not stumbled. The youngster seems completely unperturbed by his physical limitations, pushing Novak Djokovic in pretty much every point they play, breaking right back after being broken by his idol.
As things stand, Prizmic needs to once again break his opponent to maintain parity having just been broken at the time of writing. Novak Djokovic now leads with a slight advantage at 6-2, 6-7(5), 5-3.
