Djokovic Targets Sixth Australian Open Crown

In the midst of arguably one of the greatest runs in ATP World Tour history, Novak Djokovic enters the 2016 Australian Open on top of the tennis world. But even with all his recent success, Djokovic appreciates how far he’s come, reflecting on his breakthrough victory down under in 2008.

“Every time I go back to Rod Laver Arena, I have these memories come back to me from the first win back in 2008, of course, some of the epic matches I’ve played on that court,” five-time champion Djokovic said. “I’ll try my best, as anybody else. I’m here to start from the very beginning, to start from the scratch, and see where it takes me.

“I think most of the players really enjoy being here in Australia, in Melbourne. It’s a country and city that nurtures sport’s values. Whether it’s professional athletes you see along the way, the sports facilities that are magnificent around here, or just the regular people that jog, spend a lot of time outdoors and take care of themselves.

“When you’re in an environment like this, you feel motivated, you feel inspired to be here, to actually perform at your best. This being one of the four most important and prestigious tournaments we have in this sport, of course it always does in a way extract the best out of each player. In my case, this has been the most successful Grand Slam tournament, and probably one of my two, three most successful tournaments of my career. I won it five times.”

Djokovic, who owns an Open Era record five Australian Open titles, is bidding to draw level with all-time record holder Roy Emerson. The Serb lifted his first trophy in 2008, completed a three-peat from 2011-13 and won once again in 2015. It is one of four tournaments he has won at least five times, along with the China Open in Beijing (6), Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (5) and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Miami (5).

“I’m here to focus on Australian Open. As all the players taking part in this year’s first Grand Slam, I would like to do the best as I can and fight for the trophy.

“Hopefully I can play many matches. That means that I would do well. If I am able to do the same or better, like in 2015, I’m not sure. Honestly, as I said, it’s just the beginning. I try to take one tournament at a time.”

Djokovic opens his 12th Australian Open campaign against a dangerous opponent: 19-year-old Korean Hyeon Chung. One of four teens in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, World No. 51 Chung is coming off a breakout 2015 season which included match wins in seven tour-level events and four ATP Challenger Tour titles.

“He’s one of the rising stars of the tennis world,” Djokovic added. “I haven’t seen him play too much, honestly. I know that he’s a tall fellow. He hits pretty solid from back of the court. He doesn’t have maybe as powerful of a serve as you would expect for his height. But I’m going to do a little bit more analysis and research there and get myself ready.

“We talk about the pre-tournament, pre-season kind of mindset and approach each year. Especially having an opponent who is this young, who has nothing to lose, he wants to show to the world that he deserves to be there. Of course, that makes it even trickier for me. I need to try to be going out on the court with the right intensity from the very beginning.”

Djokovic faces Chung on Monday afternoon, third on Rod Laver Arena.