NOVAK DJOKOVIC insists there is no crisis, that his preparation for a successful Australian Open defence has not been derailed. One appearance at the Brisbane International was never going to be sufficient, and Djokovic has accepted a wildcard lifeline into next week's Sydney International to help meet his pressing matchplay needs.
Struggling to adjust to a new racquet since switching manufacturers in the off-season and admitting he had arrived in Australia too late after spending New Year's Eve at home in Monaco, he was dumped 6-4, 6-4 by Latvian talent Ernests Gulbis. By last night he had committed to the Sydney tournament, where he will be the top men's seed, despite indicating post-match that he would "probably" head to Melbourne and Kooyong's AAMI Classic.
"I'm not panicking," Djokovic said. "The Australian Open is my highest goal for this part of the year and I really want to play well there. I wanted to get a couple of matches here and one of the reasons is I didn't feel fresh on the court [was] because I didn't get a lot of practice these days, came too late, but it's all right. I have a lot of time now to prepare for Aussie Open.
"Look, it's not good to start with a loss in the year, that's for sure, nobody likes to lose, but let's look on the bright side. It's only the start of the last year and the biggest tournament is coming up, so [I] look forward to it."
While questions have been raised about his commitment, having not arriving until the day before the tournament, and mentions have been made of the nine holes of golf he managed to play on Monday morning, Djokovic is one of the most consistent players on the world tour, and it is almost two years since his previous first-round loss, in Marseille in 2007, when he was ranked 14th.
Gulbis always loomed as a dangerous opponent, as the world No.53 is an exciting shotmaker and a former practice partner of Djokovic's in Munich during their teenage years. And with Djokovic appearing to lack energy and some degree of interest, so it proved.
The Serb served poorly and was broken three times by a player he had beaten twice last year in straight sets, claiming he had battled to find his rhythm after practising with his new racquet for just a couple of weeks. "I am under the contract, so I have to play with the racquet," Djokovic said. "It's not the end of the world. It's the first match so I'm still not trying to be very pessimistic."
Gulbis, acknowledged as one of the game's rising stars, rated the result as one of his finest, even if the quality was patchy in both players' first match of the year. "[One of my] best games? I don't think so, because I had some beautiful losses, many of them," he said. "So best win, but not the best game."
With the popular Marcos Baghdatis another early casualty, and no Australians in the second round, much of the interest the men's draw rests with excitable second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Agustin Calleri 6-2, 7-5 last night in his first match in Australia since losing the Open final to Djokovic, and next plays Jarkko Nieminen.
Among the women, third seed Marion Bartoli was taken to three sets by Hungarian qualifier Melinda Czink, while second seed Victoria Azarenka squeaked past Slovakia's would-be Australian Jarmila Gajdosova 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 in a close contest.
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