{"id":359288,"date":"2024-01-11T21:11:14","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T22:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359288"},"modified":"2024-01-11T23:01:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T23:01:57","slug":"aussie-star-stuns-djokovic-in-cross-code-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359288","title":{"rendered":"Aussie star stuns Djokovic in cross-code battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cricket<\/a> superstar Steve Smith<\/a> has stunned the world's best tennis<\/a> player, returning a serve from world No.1 Novak Djokovic<\/a> in an exhibition prior to the Australian Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old is on a break from Test duties this week, with the Aussies securing a series cleansweep over Pakistan, but will return to the baggy green side on January 17 against the West Indies.<\/p>\n

Smith used the time off to test out a different set of skills, taking to the court against Djokovic on Thursday night and proving his sublime batting translates to a different sport.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie fan favourite reflects on singles career<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE:<\/strong> Adelaide striker opens up on globetrotting career<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Former Melbourne star torches 'selfish' Demons<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Prior to their tussle on the court, Djokovic welcomed Smith to the arena, with the event raising money for charity.<\/p>\n

"It's a great pleasure to have Mr Smith and everyone else who is out here tonight," he said on the Nine broadcast.<\/p>\n

"I'm really looking forward to try their respective sports – I did play cricket in Perth on the beach. I hit a couple of sixes and a couple of fours, but I had many missed balls as well.<\/p>\n

"Heading up against him will be tough."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian Open live and exclusive on Nine,<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and ad-free on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The tough task was met by Smith, who hit a full-pelt serve from the reigning Australian Open champion back over the net, before the pair shared a brief cricket contest on the court.<\/p>\n

The star batter and current Australian vice-captain was full of praise for the tennis legend ahead of the upcoming grand slam.<\/p>\n

"I've been lucky to come down here on a few occasions, and I have actually seen Novak play here," Smith said.<\/p>\n

"He's great to watch. They move so gracefully around the court and you see the ball flying at good pace. It's great fun to watch."\ufeff<\/p>\n

Djokovic's opponent for the first round is yet to be determined, with qualifying for the tournament set to conclude on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cricket superstar Steve Smith has stunned the world's best tennis player, returning a serve from world No.1 Novak Djokovic in an exhibition prior to the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":359290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=359288"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359291,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359288\/revisions\/359291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/359290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=359288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=359288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=359288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}