Australian Open: Kecmanovic wanted to "win for Djokovic"

“I had to win for him too”: Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic admitted he was driven by a double motivation to beat Monday in the 1st round of the Australian Open the replacement of his compatriot Novak Djokovic expelled from the country before the start of the tournament.

To discover

• Australian Open: men's schedule and results

• Australian Open: ladies schedule and results

Instead of -probably- losing against the world No.1, Kecmanovic (77th) faced and beat 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 the lucky loser (eliminated in the 3rd qualifying round) Italian Salvatore Caruso (146th) who filled the void left by the triple defending champion in the table.

“I know we can't do much for him, but we are doing our best to be there for him and to help him through this period,” added Kecmanovic about his compatriot.

“He is a huge champion no matter what and it was painful to see what was happening to him in particular since I knew I was going to face him on the Rod Laver court.

I feel very bad for him and I hope he comes back even stronger,” he added.

Kecmanovic stressed that the Serbian players had told each other that they would "do everything to avenge" Djokovic and "make him proud".

"He is our strongest representative and it is obviously a shame that he cannot participate and represent Serbia (at the Australian Open, editor's note), but we will do everything to, in a way, replace him ", he added.