Novak Djokovic was at his dominant best in a straight-sets demolition job to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals yesterday, with Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff in equally ruthless touch.
The Serbian superstar recaptured his top form to surge into the last 16 after dropping sets in his opening two matches while feeling ill, and he stepped up another level against Adrian Mannarino.
The French 20th seed, who at 35 is a year younger than Djokovic, has been enjoying a late career resurgence, but he was taught a lesson by the world No. 1, who won the first 13 games in powering through to the last eight of a Grand Slam for the 58th time, equaling Roger Federer’s men’s record.
Photo: AFP
The Serbian ran rings around his French opponent on Rod Laver Arena, winning 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 to underline his status as red-hot favorite to lift an 11th title at Melbourne Park.
“I really wanted to lose that game in the third set because the tension was building up so much in the stadium,” he said, referring to the possibility of completing a rare “triple bagel.”
“I just needed to get that out of the way and refocus,” he said.
Djokovic said he thought there would be less stress around practice and matches this season, but the intensity was as fierce as ever even though he is now 36.
“You can see it even today,” he said. “I was 6-0, 2-0 up. It was a long game, and I was like going on with discussions, heated discussions, with my box. I always look for the best performance from myself, so I put a lot of effort every single day into making it happen. When it doesn’t happen, I’m frustrated.”
“It’s still there. The fire is still burning. I think that’s what allowed me to be where I am and achieve the things that I have achieved,” he said.
In other fourth-round action, in-form fourth seed Jannik Sinner sent last year’s semi-finalist Karen Khachanov tumbling out of the Open, blazing to a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 win to keep his record of not dropping a set during the tournament intact.
Defending women’s champion Sabalenka has been in imperious form and was in complete charge against unseeded Amanda Anisimova on Margaret Court Arena, sweeping past the American 6-3, 6-2.
Fourth seed Coco Gauff, attempting to become the first woman to back up a US Open title with a Grand Slam win in Australia since Naomi Osaka in 2018-19, has been almost as impressive.
She swatted aside Poland’s unseeded Magdalena Frech 6-1, 6-2 in just 63 minutes on Rod Laver Arena, with the 85-year-tennis legend watching from the stands.
“It was an honor to play in front of you, so thank you for coming to my match,” said 19-year-old Gauff, who had never progressed beyond the fourth round at Melbourne Park in four previous attempts.
“First Aussie quarter-final. Super happy to be in this position and be here... It’s cool to get over that hump,” she said.
In the women’s doubles round of 16, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium beat Italy’s Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to advance.
Today, Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and China’s Lin Zhu are to play Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Jelana Ostapenko of Latvia in the third round of the women’s doubles.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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