Dazzling Djokovic blitzes his way into quarters
YOU had to laugh or cry, and Adrian Mannarino did the former as he sat in his seat on Rod Laver Arena, giggling uncontrollably as Novak Djokovic led 6-0, 6-0 en route to reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open yesterday.
This was Djokovic at his most merciless, yet there was a surprising admission from the 36-year-old Serb afterwards. Though he had the chance to clinch the first 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 victory at a Grand Slam in more than 30 years — since Sergi Bruguera’s ‘triple bagel’ against Thierry Champion at the 1993 French Open — even he wanted Mannarino to win a game at this stage. When it finally arrived — as the 20th seed made it 1-1 in the third set — the Rod Laver Arena erupted in excitement. It is a measure of Djokovic’s dominance in a way.
He is so good, his opponents receive standing ovations for simply holding serve against him.
‘The tension in the third set, it was so big, whether he’s going to win a game or not,’ said Djokovic. ‘The crowd wanted him to.
‘I almost felt like it’s good to give away the game, just to be able to reset and refocus because the tension is growing as the match progresses without him winning a game.
‘Of course, it’s tough for him, but also for me to not think about that, the triple bagel. So I was happy that got that out of the way. Then I focused on what I needed to do to close out the match.’
The world No 1 won 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 in the end, taking only 104 minutes to do so and equalling Roger Federer’s record by reaching a 58th Grand Slam quarter-final.
He will have sole ownership of that accolade soon enough, and next faces Taylor Fritz, the 26-year-old American
No 12 seed who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 yesterday.
Though the scoreline suggests this was as leisurely as a stroll through Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens — the landscape that Djokovic loves to visit on his days off — Mannarino was no chump. He is 35 himself, but ranked 19 in the world and fit enough to have made it through three rounds of five-setters.
Mannarino is unusual in that he does his best to avoid discovering the identity of the opponent he is due to face.
He only learned it was Ben Shelton an hour prior to playing his third-round clash when he checked the scores to see how his friends Nicolas Mahut and Edouard RogerVasselin were getting on. He likes the spontaneity, feeling that players can over-analyse the opposition.
This fourth-round meeting started with Djokovic trailing 15-40 in the very first game, two double faults helping Mannarino. You hope the Frenchman savoured this lead in its few fleeting moments. It would not come around again.
Djokovic was relentless enough that even at 6-0, 2-0, he had a heated exchange with his team.
Strange though it sounds,
Mannarino was not playing particularly poorly. The man with ‘24’ etched on his trainers, signifying his number of Grand Slam crowns, was simply asserting his superiority as he secured his second bagel. Mannarino could only laugh.
At 6-0, 6-0, 1-0, Mannarino sought his first hold of serve. Finally, he was on the board, erasing any possibility of total embarrassment.
When the crowd cheered, Mannarino asked for more noise. Djokovic, unhappy that the shot clock started to count down while these celebrations were ongoing, complained.
That drew a chorus of boos, and he responded by waving his arms as if a conductor at a symphony. Ultimately,
Mannarino picked up three games to Djokovic’s 18 in this rare daytime outing for the Australian Open’s defending men’s champion. As if the margin of victory was not enough of a chilling warning to his competitors, Djokovic added: ‘Being No1 and still on top of the game, I don’t feel like leaving tennis in that position. I feel like I want to keep on going. ‘When I feel that I am not able to compete at the highest level and be a contender for a Grand Slam title, then I’ll probably consider retirement.’ On this evidence we may be waiting a while, and next on Djokovic’s hit list is Fritz.