NEW DELHI: As
Novak Djokovic
gears up to start his season at the
United Cup
, the world no.1 fondly referred to Australia as his 'happy place' on Saturday.
Despite being denied entry to the country almost two years ago due to his stance on Covid-19 vaccinations, the 36-year-old approaches the mixed team event without holding any grudges.
"Always felt like... (Australia) was my happy place where I felt great, other than that situation two years ago where obviously it wasn't really enjoyable," he said.
"But other than that, I have always enjoyed myself, played the best tennis, and so my feelings coming into Australia this year are really positive."
Djokovic said he is looking forward to facing the 58th-ranked
Zhang Zhizhen
in Sunday's group tie in Perth.
Djokovic is targeting a record 11th
Australian Open
title next month, but his focus for now is on Zhang, vowing to give "always 100 percent".
China laid down a marker on Saturday with a defeat of the Czech Republic, which featured Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.
"I never faced Zhang," he said. "I think he now is probably the most successful Chinese male player of all time.
"That's great, as well, because we want to see the men's tennis in China picking up. They are a strong team, very strong team."
But the 24-time Grand Slam winner warned: "Hopefully I can start the new season with a win."
The Serbs, trained by former player and Djokovic friend Viktor Troicki, have been in the city for several days trying to acclimatise.
"Australia is not really around the corner for us Europeans, so we need a little bit of time to get used to the time difference," said Djokovic.
"Obviously different conditions here than any other place where I trained or played an exhibition recently.
"China had a clean sweep today," he added. "There's a big Chinese community here and also Serbian community, so hopefully we can feel the energy in the stands and support for both nations."
(With inputs from AFP)
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