No ‘triple bagel’ but Novak Djokovic thumps Adrian Mannarino to reach quarters
IMAGE: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his fourth round match against France’s Adrian Mannarino. Photograph: Eloisa Lopez/Reuters
Novak Djokovic marked a rare daytime appearance at the Australian Open with a dominant victory over Adrian Mannarino on Sunday as the 10-times champion flirted with a ‘triple bagel’ before sealing a 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 win to reach the quarter-finals.
Djokovic, handed an early session slot at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2021, said earlier in the week he had been battling a viral affection and the world number one was coughing and appeared to be breathing heavily at times during the match.
The Serb’s health issues had no impact on his play, however, and with the roof at Rod Laver Arena closed due to rain he powered to a 32nd straight match victory at the tournament and a 58th Grand Slam quarter-final, equalling the all-time record of Swiss maestro Roger Federer.
IMAGE: Novak Djokovic shakes hands with France’s Adrian Mannarino. Photograph: Eloisa Lopez/Reuters
“The way I played today, I don’t mind playing in the day to be honest,” said Djokovic, who is chasing a 25th Grand Slam to go past Margaret Court.
“It’s no secret I like to play at 7 p.m. but it was not too bad today at all.”
Tricky left-hander Mannarino can pose problems for the best of players by working the angles and the world number 19 pushed Djokovic hard in the opening game of the contest but still found himself down a set in only 33 minutes.
Djokovic let out a roar after breaking early in the second set, and delivered another body blow in the third game when he held serve after six deuces.
Two sets down and still not on the scoreboard, Mannarino finally won a game early in the third to draw level at 1-1, avoiding a rare “triple bagel” – 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 – and smiled as the crowd cheered.
Djokovic soon closed out victory, however, and said it had been one of his best performances.
“Yeah, after the first two sets, one of the best I’ve played in a while,” he said. “I really wanted to lose that game in the third set because the tension was building up in the stadium.
“I just needed to get that one out of the way so I could refocus on what I need to do to close out the match. I played great from the first to the last point.”
Taylor Fritz stuns Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach last eight in Melbourne
IMAGE: Taylor Fritz of the US celebrates after winning his fourth round match against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters
Taylor Fritz stormed past last year’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and into the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time after beating the Greek seventh seed 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 at Melbourne Park.
The American 12th seed arrived in Australia having never beaten a top-10 opponent at a Grand Slam and sealed a memorable victory with a clinical performance to equal his best result at a major.
Fritz, a quarter-finalist at last year’s U.S. Open and Wimbledon in 2022, sent down 13 aces and 50 winners as Tsitsipas’s frustration mounted, and closed out the contest in just over three hours with a backhand winner.
IMAGE: Taylor Fritz shakes hands with Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas.Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters
“I was just really trusting my shots,” the 26-year-old said in his on-court interview. “I served well the whole match. It just kept me in it and then when I really needed it at the end I just started playing my best tennis.”
Fritz’s victory came at a cost for his girlfriend Morgan Riddle, who had promised her social media followers she would eat an entire jar of Vegemite on Instagram Live if he won the match.
“My girlfriend thought I was too confident to win the match,” Fritz added when he was handed a jar of the Aussie food spread by his on-court interviewer.
“This is a big jar but a bet’s a bet. I have tried it, but I’m not the biggest fan so I won’t be partaking.
“But I’ll make sure it happens.”
Sinner comes through Khachanov test to reach quarter-finals
IMAGE: Jannik Sinner in action during his fourth round match against Russia’s Karen Khachanov. Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters
Jannik Sinner was far from his best but found a way to come out on top in the key moments as he reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 win over Karen Khachanov.
The Italian fourth seed, widely tipped as a title contender after a scorching finish to last season, had stormed into the fourth round without really being tested but knew he had been in a match on a blustery Margaret Court Arena.
“Usually when we play it’s a tough match, he’s an incredible player, I tried to stay focused, mentally and physically,” Sinner said.
“Every match has its own story. Today I won so I’m very happy. We have quite a similar game style, so it’s a kind of ping-pong. I tried to mix it up a bit today.”
Khachanov, a Melbourne semi-finalist in 2023, should have been the first player to take a set off Sinner this year as the Italian struggled with his serve early in the match.
The Russian 15th seed earned 10 break points over the first two sets but, partly through his own mistakes and partly through fine clutch serving from Sinner, failed to convert all but one.
Sinner, by contrast, clinically drove home his advantage on all three of the break chances he carved out and went two sets up with his eighth ace after nearly two hours on court.
The 22-year-old was unable to relax, however, knowing that Khachanov had come from two sets down to beat him in their only previous Grand Slam meeting at the 2020 U.S. Open.
Sinner is a different player three years on and looked comfortable going toe-to-toe with Khachanov in the power stakes, while also trying out the drop shots that new coach Darren Cahill has brought to his game.
Khachanov did manage to save three break points in the third set but when he gave up the fourth with a wild forehand to go 4-3 down, the writing was on the wall for the Russian’s campaign.
Sinner played his best tennis in the final two games, adding a couple more winners to his final tally of 46 and moving onto a meeting with Andrey Rublev or Alex de Minaur in his second visit to the Melbourne Park quarter-finals.
