SUMMARY
- Dino faced Djokovic in his Grand Slam debut in Melbourne.
- The young player pushed the Serb to play his longest first-round match ever.
Serbian legend Novak Djokovic launched his defense of the Australian Open title successfully. However, it was not the smoothest of sailing for Djokovic, as a young debutant pushed him to his limit. The player was none other than Dino Prizmic, who grew up idolizing the Serb.
When the main draws were announced and Novak was set to play against Prizmic, the young player had been written off already. The fact that Djokovic would emerge victorious against him was quite obvious. Dino, who had a lot riding on this match, gave Novak a run for his money.
Young Dino made his Grand Slam debut against the defending champion in Melbourne. He played through three rounds of qualifying to make his way to the main draw of his first major tournament. It was a momentous occasion for him, and he pushed his idol hard to play his longest first-round match ever.
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The match lasted well over four hours, and Djokovic had to dig deep during the battle with Dino. Moreover, the Croatian player even won the second set against Djokovic. Many even smelled an early upset when Prizmic broke Djokovic early in the third set.
While Novak won the match 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, Prizmic won the crowd’s admiration for playing so valiantly. In this article, we take a deeper look into the life of the young player.
Everything you need to know about Dino Prizmic
Dino was born on August 5, 2005, in Split, Croatia. The 18-year-old grew up training at the Tenis Klub Split, where Novak’s coach, Goran Ivanisevic, also trained. Goran has been following Dino’s growth as a player. He even encouraged Dino to move to Zagreb so he could train with the best. Prizmic followed his advice, shifting to the capital of Croatia, and it paid off.
Dino proved his mettle when he won the Junior Roland Garros title in 2023. Last season, he made his breakthrough on the ATP Challenger Tour when he won the title in Banja Luka.
Prizmic was the ninth-ranked junior when he won the French Open last year. He defeated Bolivia’s Juan Carlos Prado Angelo 6-1, 6-4, in straight sets last June.
“For me, it’s a big achievement. It’s my dream when I was kid. I am really happy for myself and for my team and my whole family to won this tournament,” he said (via The Independent).
This title win gave Dino a much-needed confidence boost. He eventually went on to win his first Challenger title and entered the Australian Open ranked 178th in the world.
Dino Prizmic has managed to win the admiration of Djokovic and tennis fans alike. Even though he lost the match, it will be talked about for a long time.