Novak Djokovic confessed just how much he struggled in Indian Wells after surviving a scare to get his first win here since 2024. The Serbian superstar has won five titles in the Californian desert, but his last one came 10 years ago. Since then, he’s suffered some surprise losses and has not been beyond the fourth round. Last year, he fell at the first hurdle. But he finally snapped his losing streak in ‘Tennis Paradise’ with a 4-6 6-1 6-2 comeback win over Kamil Majchrzak.

The third seed was playing his first match since suffering a heartbreaking four-set defeat in the Australian Open final and responded perfectly after losing the opening set. Afterwards, Djokovic admitted it was difficult to find his A-game in the desert, especially in the windy conditions, which he branded some of the “toughest on tour”.

“Well, it was very challenging, as it is lately for me in Indian Wells, to be honest. It’s kind of hard to find my A-game, particularly at the beginning of the tournament in the last seven, eight years of coming here, so just glad to overcome a challenge,” the 38-year-old said straight after the match.

“Obviously, I knew Kamil is a very solid player. He doesn’t have tremendous power, but he also has every shot in the book, and he was not afraid to come in and take the ball early. He played great first set right. Right at the beginning [of the second set], I kind of reset and started feeling the ball better. Crowd was amazing, honestly, for a first match. Packed house. It’s Tennis Paradise!”

Explaining how he overcame those hurdles, Djokovic added: “Look, I mean, obviously different factors are in play, you know? I know what I need to do on the court but obviously, it’s completely different practising and playing those practice sets, and coming into the official match. I find that the wind here is one of the toughest on the tour, just on a day like this, with the gusts of wind coming in and out, changing directions, it’s so, so difficult, particularly on this end of the court, and it just puts extra tension.

“And then if you’re tight, if you’re not feeling the ball well, then you are in big trouble. It’s what happened for me in the first set, in the last couple years. But as I said, I managed to find the right game from the very beginning of the second, never looked back. I’m glad just to overcome. It was a tough mental, physical battle, just looking forward to the next one.”

Facing world No. 57 Majchrzak, Djokovic won a thrilling 23-shot rally to start the match, but he was broken in the opening game. The 38-year-old continued to struggle and was broken again, but broke straight back to half his deficit.

There were finally some signs of nerves from Majchrzak as he stepped up to serve for the first set, and Djokovic quickly had three break-back points. But the Pole snuffed them all out to take the opening set in 43 minutes, as Djokovic won just one point on his second serve and hit 14 unforced errors.

But the 24-time Grand Slam champion responded as champions do, and broke immediately to start the second set. He came through a lengthy, eight-minute service game, also approaching the umpire about the shot clock and being told he was allowed to ask the ball kids for towels to speed up the time between points.

The Serb was in cruise control, breaking again as he continued his assault on the Majchrzak serve. The world No. 57 finally ended his run of games to get back on the board for 1-5 and caused all sorts of problems for Djokovic as he tried to serve out the set, but the 38-year-old got it done and forced a decider.

Djokovic hit the deck at the beginning of the third set, dropping to the ground to catch his breath after losing a 40-shot rally. He seemed to be struggling with the heat, coughing and gagging as he served at 0-1. After winning the game, Djokovic went behind an LED board and was heard coughing. “I was just wondering if he was maybe getting sick,” co-commentator Robbie Koenig said. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to affect the five-time former champion, who lost just one more game after that, and clinched his first win here since 2024.

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