By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Novak Djokovic’s quest for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title is still alive after sweeping Adrian Mannarino of France- 6.0, 6.0, 6.3- to clinch a quarterfinal seat in the ongoing Australian Open last January 21, 2024.
In front of his thousands of supporters who flocked to the Rod Laver Arena, the Serbian superstar showcased another flawless performance and pulled off one of his most convincing wins of the Grand Slam tournament so far.
There was just nothing that Mannarino could do against the inspired Djokovic as he immediately brought the house down with a series of powerful service aces to score a bunch of bonus points without exerting too much gas in the baseline exchanges.
After almost two hours of tennis, Djokovic recorded 17 total service aces and tallied an 81% win rate on the first service.
On the other hand, Mannarino just couldn’t find his groove against Djokovic as the men’s world no. 1 player neutralized his ability to go toe-to-toe in the baseline.
Djokovic was wise enough to vary his offensive attack and was unpredictable during the whole fourth-round clash against Mannarino.
He replicated his masterclass in the second set after blanking Mannarino again, this time piling up the points in the down-the-line category and was more aggressive in going to the net.
Mannarino got some momentum in the third and final set after finally bagging his first game point but Djokovic officially fended him off after countering back with two consecutive break points.
After the match, Djokovic collected a total of 85 points won, 33 receiving points won, and 52 converted service points.
Djokovic will kick off his quarterfinal round campaign today, as he faces world no. 12 ranked male player Taylor Fritz who earlier outlasted Stefanos Tsitsipas in just four sets.
