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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 22, 2020

Novak Djokovic

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

N. DJOKOVIC/I. Tatsuma

6-1, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When you saw the conditions this morning with the wind, what were you thinking?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I was like, Yes, it's going to be a windy day. I love the wind (laughter). I'm being sarcastic now, of course.

I don't think players enjoy these kind of conditions, to be honest. It is what it is. You have to accept them and embrace the fact that you're going to -- I guess you're going to be challenged on different levels, not just by your opponent, but also the conditions.

That's okay. I accepted it. I came into the match and played extremely well at the beginning. Got 5-Love lead up after 15 minutes. I'm just overall pleased with the performance.

First matchup against Ito. I haven't actually seen him play too many times before. I did my homework with the team, analyzed a little bit his game, kind of prepared for something that he's going to bring on the court.

I think in the second set we went toe-to-toe till 4-All when I made that crucial break. My serve was working extremely well in first round and second round. That's something I worked on in the off-season. That's one of the priorities I guess of the training sessions, trying to get that I think advantage of winning a lot of easy points on the first serve.

It has been paying off so far I think in ATP Cup and here, two matches.

Q. Fire, rain, wind. What else can happen before you win your eighth Australian Open?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't know, you tell me (smiling).

As I was saying, of course, it's never pleasant to play in these kind of conditions when you have such a strong wind. Hopefully we won't be affected here in Melbourne by the quality of air. I heard there's going to be some rain tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully that will help clear up the air. It is a bit different today than the last couple days.

That's it. It's only second round. I do have to keep going. I feel comfortable and confident playing in Australia. History of my results here have been very positive.

Q. That is not too bad.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: That is not too bad, of course.

Q. Your Serbian friend Filip Krajinovic faces Roger Federer tonight. Will you be watching? Do you have any advice?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: We spoke. We spoke last night. I thought he fought well to win his opening-round match. He was very close to lose that match. He won in five sets. That was great for his confidence.

Obviously today completely different matchup against Roger. We did speak a little bit about things that he can do to be, I guess, his best self on the court tonight. Again, it doesn't depend only on him. It depends how well Roger starts and how well Roger plays.

It can be a very interesting matchup. I think Krajinovic is a very talented player and has been around the tour for a while, knows Roger's game.

It just depends on how it starts. It can be a long one. It can be a short one. It's going to be interesting to see.

Q. If you weren't a tennis player, what would you like to be?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Hmm... That's a good question.

I'd probably stay in the sport because I come from a sports family. I grew up in the mountains, skied a lot when I was younger. My dad was a professional skier. Most of my family were professional skiers. I'd probably be on the slopes right now somewhere in Europe.

Q. You beat Ito today. You're going to play against another Japanese player next round, Nishioka. You played against him at the Davis Cup. What is the impression about him?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, different conditions on the Davis Cup. Obviously, I mean, I played a great match there, won in straight sets. Ball doesn't fly here as much as it did in Davis Cup. I think it's slower, which actually is more suitable to Nishioka's game.

He's one of the quickest players we have on the tour and doesn't make too many mistakes. Has a really efficient backhand. He can step in. He can defend well from forehand. He likes to spin the ball to the opponent's backhand side.

We'll see. Obviously I have to be I guess dictating the play, a bit more aggressive. Hopefully I'll be serving well. That's going to definitely help.

Q. At the Davis Cup you said, I need a holiday. Then you landed up a little while later in Bali. What drew you to that special place? What did you think of the culture there?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's one of the most special places in the world. Honestly, I was blown away by how kind and genuine people are. The energy of that island, it's very special.

What drew us, what got me to go there with my wife is a green school in Bali, a unique concept of education. That was very interesting to us. For the last couple years, we've known about the concept. We've been introduced to the concept by our friends who have their kid in the school in Bali.

We always wanted to go to Bali in general. So we used the opportunity in the off-season to visit the school. We might have our children actually attend that concept in the near future.

Q. It's a very special educational place?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes. They have over 70 structures, bamboo structures, where they have their classes. None of them have walls. Obviously Bali has a great climate, great weather. Throughout most of the year it's good weather. Everything is in harmony with nature, respecting the nature's laws.

Seeing kids going barefoot, playing sports, spending a lot of time outdoors: this kind of interactive play combined with learning is I think something more special that I have seen in the education system.

My wife and I have been focused on early childhood development and preschool education in our foundation back in Serbia. It was really interesting to experience that.

They're not grading kids I think until they're going to high school potentially, which I find super, super good. I'm all for that. You see a lot of happy kids, a lot of kids smiling.

They're all very smart. They all can actually put their ideas to motion through the workshops that they have there, materials, so they can create whatever comes to their mind, which I think is very creative environment to be part of.

It was a very impressive and positive experience.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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