Djokovic soldiers on, faces De Minaur
>>MELBOURNE: An ailing Novak Djokovic ground past Grigor Dimitrov yesterday and into the last 16 as the nine-time Australian Open champion edged closer to a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam title.
The Serbian fourth seed came through a titanic 77-minute first set before taming the Bulgarian 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena, needing treatment twice on his troublesome hamstring.
He will face home hope Alex de Minaur for a place in the quarter-finals after the 22nd seed equalled his best result at the tournament by breezing past Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 7-6 (7/0), 6-2, 6-1.
Djokovic’s win not only inched him nearer to equalling Rafael Nadal’s 22-Slam record but also to a 10th title, which would see him return to world No.1 for the first time since June.
Victory put him into the last 16 for a 15th time, equalling Nadal in second place on the Open-era list for appearances in the Australian Open fourth round behind Roger Federer’s 18.
“Every point, every game mattered,” he said. “I think the turning point for both players was right from the blocks, very first game making an early break for me was important.
“Obviously, I didn’t know how I’m going to feel physically, it was going up and down.
“It was an incredible battle, three sets over three hours. Let’s rest up and prepare for the next one.”
Djokovic aggravated his hamstring during his run to a 92nd title at the Adelaide International this month and has been struggling with it since.
De Minaur, who is gunning to make his first quarter-final at Melbourne Park, now awaits after having little trouble getting past Bonzi. The Australian said he was up for the challenge.
“These are the matches you want to be playing,” he said. “I’m gonna probably have the best in the world in front of me, and I’m ready for the battle.”
Meanwhile fifth seed Andrey Rublev surged into a last-16 clash with Holger Rune — then thanked his beaten opponent Dan Evans for giving him a banana mid-match.
The Russian crushed the Briton 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to make the fourth round for a third time.
He will face Danish teenager Rune for a place in the quarter-finals after the ninth seed survived a nasty fall to sweep past unseeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).
Friend and 25th seed Evans threw a banana to Rublev at a changeover when he ran out.
“I didn’t ask him, I asked the ball boy, but Danny asked for bananas earlier and he had two so he just said ‘take it,’ and I caught it,” said Rublev.
In two all-American matches, Jeffrey Wolf strolled past Michael Mmoh in three sets while Tommy Paul made equally light work of Jenson Brooksby.
In the women’s draw, hard-hitting Aryna Sabalenka burnished her title credentials yesterday as she barrelled into the last 16 along with several other women’s seeds.
The Belarusian fifth seed blew away 26th-seeded Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-3 to set up a clash with Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.
Thirtieth seed Karolina Pliskova and 23rd seed Zhang Shuai also went through in straight sets and will clash in the fourth round.
Bencic has also not dropped a set in Melbourne. The Swiss 12th seed eased past unseeded Italian Camila Giorgi 6-2, 7-5.
Pliskova, the former world No.1 from the Czech Republic, defeated Varvara Gracheva of Russia 6-4, 6-2.
She faces China’s Zhang, a 6-3, 6-2 victor over Katie Volynets of the United States.
Also into the fourth round is the 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, who beat her fellow Czech Marketa Vondrousova in three sets. She faces Donna Vekic of Croatia.