After a tough match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Novak Djokovic advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open. As a celebration of playing in his 100th match at the event, Djokovic won this match.
With his best tennis thus far in his title defense, first-seeded Djokovic cruised to a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) victory against the 30th seed.
The 36-year-old player is still well on his way to become the all-time leader in Grand Slam championships won with 25, which would surpass Margaret Court of Australia’s record.
Telling reporters, “It was the best performance I’ve had during this tournament,” Djokovic expressed his satisfaction.
What follows is a contest against the 35-year-old Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who won his third straight five-set battle against the 21-year-old Ben Shelton.
With 108 matches at the French Open, 103 at Wimbledon, and 101 at the US Open, he is now the first man to play 100 matches at each of the four Grand Slam events. It has never been done before, but Djokovic has become the first guy to win 92 of 100 matches in Melbourne.
The ten-time champion lost sets against Dino Prizmic and Alexei Popyrin in his first two matches at Melbourne Park because he seemed distracted at times. It didn’t help that he was fighting with a fan who was against Popyrin.
Regardless, the Serb won his 31st straight match at the Australian Open by dispatching of Argentine Etcheverry, who had earlier dispatched of Andy Murray and Gael Monfils. This task had been accomplished by Etcheverry with extraordinary ease.
In the opening set, he served only four games while dominating the play from the baseline. When Etcheverry, under intense pressure, hit a backhand long in the sixth game, he broke the serve.
With a disdainful forehand return winner, Djokovic broke the deadlock early in the second set. After that, he finished the set by taking his opponent’s service again. When he hit a backhand winner at Rod Laver Arena that was both spectacular and immediately identifiable, the crowd erupted in a unified yell.
Etcheverry served up some of his finest tennis in the third set, leading to a tie-break. But Djokovic won the match comfortably and the tie-break without ever having to face a break point since he won the opening three games.
“Obviously I’m pleased with the way I played throughout the entire match, particularly the first two sets,” the Serbian tennis player said.
He really came into his own and stepped up his game in the third set of the match. We engaged in a back-and-forth struggle in the tiebreaker.
In spite of the fact that the left-handed player has reached a career-high ranking of 19 at the age of 35, Djokovic has triumphed in all four of their previous encounters. The next opponent Djokovic will face is Mannarino.
With scores of 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, and 6-4, Mannarino prevailed against American Shelton in the four-hour and forty-six-minute match. Mannarino had previously won five sets in his first round match against former champion Stan Wawrinka and in his second round match against Jaume Munar of Spain.
Jannik Sinner proved earlier in the match that he is one of Djokovic’s most dangerous championship opponents by defeating Sebastian Baez of Argentina.
The fourth seed from Italy cruised into the second week of action in Melbourne with a 6-0, 6-1, and 6-3 win in under two hours.
At the tender age of 22, he helped Italy win the Davis Cup for the first time in 47 years, capping off a stellar year for the young man. By 2023, he had amassed four medals.
Just seconds before defeating Baez, the 26th seed, Sinner showed his upbeat attitude on Margaret Court Arena by chatting with his coaching team. Baez was already in a comfortable condition.
“In matches, I used to be really, really serious, which I still am, obviously,” he said.
Contrarily, there are times when you should crack a smile and chuckle a little; doing so is just as important and may change your attitude while you’re playing. I am mentally prepared to take a positive approach.
The 15th seed from Russia, Sinner, won 6-4, 7-6(7-4), 4-6, 7-6(7-5), against Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac. He will next face Karen Khachanov. Sinner bounced back from a hiccup in the third set to claim the win.
Also on Friday, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Frenchman Luca Van Assche, setting up a meeting with American Taylor Fritz, the tournament’s 12th seed.
She had to come back from a 2-0 deficit in the third set in order to end with a victory of 6-3, 6-0, and 6-4. The seventh-seeded player from Greece started out with a two-set lead, but she had to come back from that disadvantage in order to win.
In contrast, Fritz prevailed against Fabian Marozsan of Hungary with a score of 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, and 6-2. He did this by overcoming a set disadvantage and winning the match.
In addition, Alex de Minaur, the tenth seed and the local favorite, qualified to the next round after claiming a win against Flavio Cobolli, an Italian qualifier, with scores of 6-3, 6-3, and 6-1.
