Novak Djokovic equalled Roger Federer's record by reaching a 58th Grand Slam quarter-final with a devastating performance against Adrian Mannarino at the Australian Open on Sunday; we will bring you live scores, reports, analysis and features from Melbourne
Sunday 21 January 2024 12:43, UK
Novak Djokovic equalled Roger Federer's record by reaching a 58th Grand Slam quarter-final after crushing Adrian Mannarino for the loss of just three games at the Australian Open.
It appeared the world No 1 might become the first player to claim a 'triple bagel' (6-0 6-0 6-0) victory at the Australian Open when he won the first 13 games against Adrian Mannarino.
The Frenchman looked hugely relieved when he finally got on the board in the second game of the third set but Djokovic, playing in his 73rd major tournament, eased to a 6-0 6-0 6-3 victory.
Having started the tournament battling illness and surviving two long matches, Djokovic is now looking in ominous form, although he still became riled by the crowd at times.
"The best sets I've played in a while," the Serbian said afterwards. "I really wanted to lose that game in the third set because the tension was building up so much in the stadium. I needed to get that out of the way and refocus on what I needed to do to finish the match.
"I served very well. In the moments when I needed to come up with the first serve, I did. All in all, great performance.
The 10-time Australian Open champion hit 31 winners and raced to victory in just one hour and 44 minutes to progress to the last eight for the 14th time, which is equal second on the all-time list with Rafael Nadal and John Newcombe.
Tricky left-hander Mannarino can pose problems for the best of players by working the angles and the world No 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 historic 'triple bagel' and smiled as the crowd cheered.
Only five Grand Slam matches in the Open era having been won by that scoreline.
Djokovic soon closed out victory and will now play 12th-ranked Taylor Fritz after the American recorded his first ever top 10 win at a Grand Slam by knocking out last year's runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Fritz went into the match with a 0-11 record against top-10 players at Grand Slams, but came away with a 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 6-3 6-3 triumph to reach the quarter-finals in Melbourne for the first time.
He will need to achieve another first if he is to go further having lost all eight previous meetings with Djokovic, including a painful five-set defeat in the third round three years ago when the Serbian suffered an abdominal injury mid-match.
Cheered on by Melbourne's large Greek population, Tsitsipas has enjoyed the best results of his career at the Australian Open but he failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2020.
Djokovic has admitted to feeling unwell in recent rounds but said his health is improving.
"Last couple of days has been really good," he said. "It's going in a positive direction, health-wise, tennis-wise."
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev was made to battle all the way but in the end proved too strong for Australian 10th seed Alex de Minaur to win 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-0.
De Minaur was the last Australian left in the singles but after winning two sets on tie-breaks, he suffered a 'bagel' in the decider. The Russian will face fourth seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.
Italian star Sinner continued his red-hot form as he beat 2023 semi-finalist Karen Khachanov 6-4 7-5 6-3 to advance.
Sinner, 22, is yet to drop a set in the tournament.
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