Miomir Kikmanovic can thank his compatriot Novak Djokovic. As a first-round tie opponent, it was only natural that the 77th seed in the world rankings faced a near-impossible task early on.

Because when Kikmanovic was the first opponent of Djokovic to be pulled from the lottery drums, the 22-year-old had manageable chances against the best player in the world.

The events were documented in detail: the world number one was revoked his visa, and Djokovic had to leave Australia again.

And what about Kikmanovich? After victories against Salvatore Caruso, Tommy Ball and Lorenzo Sonego, he is now among the last 16 players in his first Grand Slam of the year.

From the first round to the biggest payday

Kikmanovich himself was very pleased with the happy circumstances at the press conference:

“A week ago I was supposed to play the game of the world no.

Success in the second round already exceeded the previous results of the young Serb. Now that he’s made it to the fourth round, the guaranteed prize pool is $237,000 – the most in Kikmanovic’s young career.

For comparison: if Djokovic was allowed to compete and the 34-year-old defeated his compatriot as expected, Kikmanovic would have had to accept a prize money of “only” $77,000.

“Second Chance” relieved the lucky young man of any tension: “I didn’t have much pressure because I felt like I was going to get a second chance. I wanted to make the best of it possible.”