By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Novak Djokovic’s dominant run in the ongoing Australian Open continues after putting up a flawless performance against Alex de Minaur- 6.2, 6.1, 6.2- in the fourth round of the Grand Slam tournament last January 23, 2023.
The convincing victory helped Djokovic advance to another Australian Open quarterfinal appearance where he is set to tackle world no. 5 ranked Andrey Rublev.
Djokovic showed no mercy after after dominating in all facets of the match against de Minaur.
From his consistent power service game to his all-around effort chasing de Minaur’s signature left-right ball placements, Djokovic proved that he is hunting for more Grand Slam championship titles.
Djokovic is just a Grand Slam away from tying Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 championship titles and is already poised to start his 2023 with a bang if he wins the Australian Open trophy.
The Serbian powerhouse wasted no time putting his imprints on the game after breaking de Minaur’s two consecutive service possessions in the first set.
It was pretty much over when Djokovic jumped to a 5-2 lead and closed the set with a jaw-dropping sequence that saw de Minaur lose a 14-shot rally battle.
Djokovic then entered the second set with booming confidence and replicated his tennis masterclass after decimating de Minaur with a 6-1 score.
Everything just clicked for Djokovic including his risky move to rely on his serve-and-volley technique that caught de Minaur off guard in the middle of the second set.
Djokovic then sent the early exclamation point after breaking de Minaur’s service possession once again and cruised past for back-to-back sweeping wins.
Before taking on de Minaur, Djokovic also crushed Grigor Dimitrov in the third round and is looking to continue his third perfect streak when he takes on Rublev.
