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Novak Djokovic only leaves three games to Adrian Mannarino in the Melbourne round of 16. Stefanos Tsitsipas fails.
The round of 16 of the upper half of the table
- Novak Djokovic (SRB/ATP 1) s. Adrian Mannarino (FRA/ATP 19) 6:0, 6:0, 6:3
- Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE/ATP 7) and Taylor Fritz (USA/ATP 12) 6:7 (3:7), 7:5, 3:6, 3:6
Novak Djokovic is in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the 14th time after a gala performance. The Serbian world number one swept Adrian Mannarino off the court in just 104 minutes. The Frenchman only won his first game in the 14th attempt. The numbers of the game speak for themselves: 85:42 points, 31:12 winners and 17:1 aces were in favor of the defending champion.
«The first two sets were the best I’ve played in a long time. All in all, it was a great performance,” said the ten-time Melbourne winner, and added: “I’m on a very good path in terms of health and sport.” Djokovic was struggling with a cold at the start of the tournament.
Now against Fritz
In the quarterfinals, Djokovic will not face Stefanos Tsitsipas as expected according to the seeding list, but Taylor Fritz. The American played well against the Greek in the John Cain Arena and after a good three hours was able to secure his place in the round of the last 8 for the first time thanks to a 7:6, 7:5, 6:3, 6:3 win cheer at the Australian Open.
The strong-serving Fritz also presented himself in impressive form from the baseline against Tsitsipas. In the end, 50 direct winning strokes (of which “only” 13 aces) were offset by only 19 unforced errors. On the other side, Tsitsipas’ score was 41:33.
If Fritz wants to reach a major semi-final for the first time in his career, he has to achieve a first, because the tall American is something of a favorite opponent of Djokovic. The Serb has won all of the 8 direct duels so far, including the Melbourne round of 16 in 2021, when Djokovic won in 5 sets.