Top seed Novak Djokovic advanced to the Australian Open quarter-finals with a commanding victory over French 20th seed Adrian Mannarino.
Djokovic, aiming for a record 25th Grand Slam title, secured a dominant 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 win in just one hour and 44 minutes.
“The first two sets were the best I have played in a while,” Djokovic said.
Novak Djokovic, aged 36, is set to face 12th seed Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
This comes after Fritz defeated last year’s finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas. Additionally, Italy’s Jannik Sinner secured his spot in the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 win over world number 15 Karen Khachanov.
Sinner is considered one of the favorites to challenge Djokovic in Melbourne. He will face fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the next round after Rublev won a challenging five-set match against Alex de Minaur, ending Australia’s hopes of a home singles champion.
‘I played great from first point to last’
Until Mannarino won the second game of the third set, Djokovic was on course to be the first player to win all three sets without dropping a game at a Grand Slam since 1993 – a feat never achieved at the Australian Open.
When Mannarino did clinch the game, the Rod Laver Arena crowd cheered wildly and the Frenchman broke into a huge smile.
“I really wanted to lose that game because the tension was building up in the stadium,” Djokovic joked afterwards.
“I needed to get that one out of the way so I could refocus on what I needed to do to close out the match. I played great from the first to the last point.”
Novak Djokovic is on the quest for an 11th title in Melbourne, which would surpass Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam wins.
Djokovic had faced some challenges in the early rounds, dropping sets and mentioning struggles with illness. However, he found his form in the third round against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, and his recent dominant win over Adrian Mannarino has positioned him well for the remainder of the tournament.
“The last couple of days have been really good,” Djokovic said.
“It is going in a positive direction health-wise and tennis-wise so I am really pleased with where I am at the moment.
“All in all, a great performance.”