Novak Djokovic has hailed his latest match at the Australian Open as his best performance yet after cruising into the quarter-finals.
The world No.1 crushed French Veteran Adrian Mannarino in a match which began with the Serbian winning the first 13 games played. It is the first time in almost nine years that he has beaten a top 20 player at a Grand Slam by dropping three or fewer games. The last time he did so was against Marin Cilic at the 2015 US Open. He has now drawn level with Roger Federer for most major quarter-final appearances at 58.
“I’ve played really well overall, especially the first two sets. I didn’t want to give him anything, any presents, from the baseline.” Said Djokovic.
“I made him work for his service games. On my service games, I think I got at least one or two free points every game with my serve that served me very well.’
“It was a very clean overall performance against always a tricky opponent who plays a kind of a cat-and-mouse type of tennis.”
Djokovic’s straightforward victory comes after what has been an at times tricky first week at Melbourne Park. In his first two matches, he dropped sets against Dino Prizmic and Alexei Popyrin. Coming into the tournament there has also been concerns about a potential wrist injury affecting him, as well as illness.
Nevertheless, the Serbian appears to be back to full fitness as he closes in on his 25th major title. As to how he has managed to do so, the 36-year-old admits his experience of the Tour has played a key role.
“It’s not the first time that I have had this kind of particular circumstance where I start off slower and then I build as the tournament goes on.” He explained.
“Today was my best day in terms of tennis, the way I felt on the court. I’m really excited to enter the second week.
“There’s no easy matches, no doubt about that. But the experience of knowing what I need to do with my own body, with my training, with the maintaining of the kind of level I guess tennis-related specifics that I need to work on and also recovery has been on point.”
The next challenger for Djokovic will be American Taylor Fritz who is through to the last eight of the Australian Open for the first time in his career. The American knocked out 2023 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, to record his first win over a top 10 player at a major event.
On paper, Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite against Fritz and he leads their head-to-head 8-0. However, the only time he dropped sets against him was in Melbourne three years ago.
“Even though I know the guys, I still have to do my homework because everyone is trying to get better,” Djokovic commented.
“Especially the guys at the top, they want to move the bar at least for 1 or 2 percent, or try different things. Disguise their flaws and improve them so they’re not as exposed in certain shots.
“Along with my coach and team, I have to do things on a daily basis to make myself prepared for every opponent.”
Djokovic is a decade older than his upcoming opponent and is currently the third-oldest player in the top 100 after Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils. Inevitably this triggers talk about when he might decide to step away from the sport. A question that the tennis star himself doesn’t know the answer to yet.
“I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m a father and a husband. A lot of things are happening in my private life off-court that I enjoy, that require my attention, my presence, and my energy. Still, I’m really blessed to be where I am. Let’s see how far it goes.” He concluded.
