Djokovic equals Federer record as he eases into quarter-finals
Djokovic equalled Roger Federer’s record by reaching a 58th grand slam quarter-final in style at the Australian Open.
It appeared the world No 1 might do so by becoming the first player to claim a ‘triple bagel’ victory at the tournament when he won the first 13 games against Adrian Mannarino.
Thefrenchmanlookedhugely relieved when he finally got on the board in the second game of the third set but Djokovic, playing in his 73rd major tournament, eased to a 6-0 6-0 6-3 victory.
Having started the tournament battling illness and surviving two long matches, Djokovic is now looking in ominous form, although he still became riled by the crowd at times.
“The best sets I’ve played in a while,” the Serbian said afterwards. “I really wanted to lose that game in the third set because the tension was buildingupsomuchinthestadium.i neededtogetthatoutoftheway andrefocusonwhatineededto do to finish the match.
“I served very well. In the moments when I needed to come up with the first serve, I did. All in all, great performance. The last couple of days hasbeenreallygoodsoit’sgoing in a positive direction health wise, tennis wise, so I’m really happy.”
Next Djokovic faces 12th seed Taylor Fritz, who claimed a
landmark victory over last year’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Fritzwentintothematchwith a 0-11 record against top-10 playersatgrandslams, but came away with a 7-6 (3) 5-7 6-3 6-3 triumph to reach the quarter-finals in Melbourne for the first time.
He will need to achieve another first if he is to go further having lost all eight previous meetings with Djokovic, including a painful five-set defeat in the third roundthreeyearsagowhenthe Serbian suffered an abdominal injury mid-match.
Fritzwasthrilledwithhispernovak
formance, saying: “I’m really happy. I think start to finish I played really well. Especially I’m super happy about the way I finished it. The last three games of the match I really, really turned it on, almost like I was in a trance and everything.
“I just felt good. I felt like I knew exactly what shot to hit, the right decision to make on every ball. It’s great. It’s been a while since I’ve had that feeling, so it gives me a lot of confidence.”
Cheered on by Melbourne’s large Greek population, Tsitsipashasenjoyedthebestresults of his career at the Australian
Open but he failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2020.
Fourth seed Jannik Sinner continues to look Djokovic’s biggest threat in the top half, and he is yet to drop a set after battling to a 6-4 7-5 6-3 victory over last year’s semi-finalist Karen Khachanov.
In the last eight, the Italian will take on fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who ended hopes of a home winner for another year by defeating 10th seed Alex De Minaur.
Cheeredonbygirlfriendkatie Boulter, De Minaur took a twosets-to-one lead, but Rublev, who holds a 0-9 record in slam quarter-finals, hit back to win 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-0.