Serbians duel and home favorite Kukushkin features on Day 1 of main draw at Astana Open on Wednesday

Ravi Ubha

A Serbian won the Astana Open last year and two Serbs kick off main draw action Wednesday at the ATP 250 in Kazakhstan. 

Laslo Djere meets wildcard Hamad Medjedovic, with both no doubt keen to follow in the footsteps of Novak Djokovic. 

Djokovic — who upped his tally of Grand Slams to 24 by winning the US Open earlier in September — walked away with the crown in Astana in 2022 by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

Djere and Medjedovic know their compatriot well. Djokovic, for example, is a mentor to the 20-year-old Medjedovic.  

The big server has soared in the rankings this season and sits at a career-high 120th after starting the year at 255th.

Winning three Challenger titles — two on clay and one on hard — have played a key role in the ranking climb in 2023.

Medjedovic contested his first Grand Slams at the French Open and Wimbledon and notched his first ATP match wins on the way to a semifinal on clay in Gstaad in July.

This after hitting No. 9 in the junior ranks.

Djere was once an elite junior, too, getting to as high as No. 3. 

Now aged 28, the seventh seed in Astana has put together an impressive career in the senior ranks while dealing with personal tragedy. Both of his parents died of cancer before Djere’s maiden ATP title in Rio in 2019.

This season, Djere made the final of another 500 in Hamburg — bettered by home favorite Alexander Zverev — to begin a sequence where he has won 13 of 19 matches.

One of the matches he lost came against Djokovic at the US Open but not before Djere stretched his opponent to five sets under the lights.

They were the lone sets Djokovic dropped in New York.

Djere’s power game got the better of Medjedovic on clay in Belgrade last year, 6-4, 7-5, although the latter was then ranked 473rd.

In the next round, Djere took Djokovic to a third-set tiebreak.

The two other wildcards feature on Wednesday, Mikhail Kukushkin — one of two home players alongside Alexander Bublik — and Alexander Shevchenko.

Kukushkin, who turns 36 on Boxing Day, seeks a first ATP or Grand Slam main draw win since the Miami Open in 2022 when he beat Botic van de Zandschulp.

The opponent of the world No. 243 is Portugal’s Nuno Borges, who once held a 31-match winning streak playing for Mississippi State in the US collegiate ranks.

Borges — 88th in the rankings — recently snapped a seven-match losing streak on the pro tour playing for his country in the Davis Cup.

Van de Zandschulp is the player who takes on Shevchenko in another first-time meeting.

The 22-year-old Shevchenko broke into the top 100 in April and has stayed there ever since.

One of his most notable matches must have been on clay in Madrid, when Shevchenko qualified and led Grand Slam winner Daniil Medvedev 4-2 in the third set in the third round.

Medvedev turned the tables to win the set 7-5.

Van de Zandschulp’s ranking has fallen from 29th in late April to its current 68th — with a foot injury contributing.

The Dutchman so nearly won his maiden ATP title in Munich in April, only to see Holger Rune overturn a 5-2 deficit in the third set and save four match points.

It was indeed a difficult defeat for van de Zandschulp, who went on to lose five straight matches.

His countryman, Tallon Griekspoor, is Astana’s top seed.

The final round of qualifying also takes place on Wednesday.