MELBOURNE-. Achieve another record in Australia heart a Novak Djokovic to reflect, revealing how he thinks things will change once he wins his historic 24th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic played his best two sets “in some time” to crush Adrian Mannarino 6-0, 6-0,6-3 on Sunday and reach the quarterfinals at a major for the 58th time, equaling Roger Federer’s record.
It is the 14th time that he has reached the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park, where he has an incredible record. Of his previous 13, 10 have ended with titles in Australia.
“I thought that maybe this year I would feel more relaxed, to put it another way, or maybe with less tension, less stress in practice sessions, duels,” he admitted. “But it is not like that, it is not always like that, a great intensity.”
Djokovic, 36, is meticulous in his planning and preparation and has had unprecedented success at Grand Slams.
Even with two more major titles than any other tennis player, he recognizes that he cannot relax and enjoy.
“You can see it even today. It was 6-0, 2-0. “It was a long game and I was arguing, arguing strongly with my team,” he assured. “The fire continues to burn. I don’t play because I need the money or the points, or whatever, I just want to play. “I really enjoy the competition.”
In the quarterfinals he will face Taylor Fritz (12), who reached this stage for the first time by beating 2023 finalist Stefans Tsitsipas 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
Djokovic was at the press conference during the Fritz and Tsitsipas duel. They asked him about his possible rivals and he said that he was confident if they played at his level.
It’s no surprise against Fritz, who is 0-8 against Djokovic.
“I mean, if he beat someone eight consecutive times I’m very confident when facing him, I can’t blame him,” Fritz admitted before adding that he has improved and was coming off his first victory against a Top 10 player in a Grand Slam.
For Djokovic it was an unusual session. It’s no secret that he prefers to start at 7 p.m., but if the score is any indication of how he plays during the day, he was happy.
He lost sets in his first two rounds and battled a virus, but said his last two victories show “that he is going in a positive direction, in health and tennis.”
Jannik Sinner (4) has not lost a set en route to the quarterfinals and the Italian beat Karen Khachanov (15) on Sunday. Aryna Sabalenka and US Open champion Coco Gauff have also not lost sets.
Sinner will next face Andrey Rublev after the fifth seed came back to beat Alex De Minaur (10) 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0.
Source: AP
