Serbia’s Novak Djokovic made an impressive start at the Brisbane 250 tournament on Tuesday, securing a dominant victory over Australian Rinki Hijikata.
Djokovic triumphed 6-3, 6-3, marking a strong start in the Brisbane Championship singles, following his successful doubles debut with Australian Nick Kyrgios yesterday. The Serbian aims for his 100th career title. In the second round, Djokovic will face veteran Frenchman Gael Monfils, who defeated American Nessech Passavaridi 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
In the first round, Australian Nick Kyrgios was knocked out early, suffering a tough defeat to Frenchman Giovanni Mbitche-Pericard with scores of 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. Mbitche-Pericard will next face American Frances Tiafoe, the tournament’s fourth seed, who triumphed over Australian Adam Walton 7-6, 6-3.
The seventh seed, Australian Alexei Popyrin, also exited in the first round, falling to Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-2. Arnaldi will meet American Reilly Opelka in the second round, who won against Argentina’s Federico Agustin Gomez 7-5, 6-4.
Czech Jakub Mensik advanced to the second round, defeating Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6, 6-4. Mensik will now face lucky loser Serbian Dusan Lajovic, who beat Frenchman Arthur Casu 6-4, 6-4.
