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Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena witnessed two modern-day greats of their respective sports Novak Djokovic and Steve Smith play tennis and cricket a few days ahead of the Australian Open 2024 first round. The reigning world no.1 Tennis player Djokovic and Smith entertained the fans as they tried their hand at each other's sport.
During the A Night with Novak & Friends event on January 11, the 10-time Australian Open champion Djokovic was left stunned as Smith was able to return his serve. The crowd roared while Djokovic dropped his racquet on the floor.
Later, Smith and Djokovic engaged in a tennis match. Djokovic tried his hand at fast bowling and started with a wide yorker which was left alone. On the next ball, Smith hit the ball into the crowd. Then Djokovic batted. He missed the first ball and switched to a racquet to deposit the ball way back into the crowd.
The Serb also played tennis in a wheelchair with the help of Anya Sabalenka and Stefanos Tsitsipas against Heath Davidson. He raced against Australian sprinter Peter Bol and played basketball with American professional Alan Williams as well.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner is top-seeded in the Australian Open. In round 1, he is set to face a player from the qualifier round. As the tournament progresses, he may face Tsitisipas in the quarter-final.
On the other hand, Smith will make his debut as an opener in Test cricket as David Warner bid adieu to Test and ODI cricket. Smith will open the innings in the first Test of the two-Test series at Adelaide Oval starting January 17.
In the absence of Pat Cummins, Smith will captain the ODI side in the three-match series from February 2 to February 6.
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