Novak Djokovic flirted with a rare “triple bagel” and Aryna Sabalenka produced yet another powerful performance as the defending champions swept into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday.
American fourth seed Coco Gauff also rattled through her match in double quick time and while she was only on court for an hour, the U.S. Open champion showed she has all the weapons to win a second Grand Slam title.
Jannik Sinner, the men’s fourth seed, got through a tough fourth round clash in three sets to underline his title credentials but last year’s losing finalist, Stefanos Tsitsipas, was ousted by Taylor Fritz.
Djokovic, playing a rare daytime match, blanked Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the opening two sets and threatened to become only the sixth player to win 6-0 6-0 6-0 in the main draw of a Grand Slam.
To the Serbian’s relief, Mannarino snatched three games to save some face in the third set and Djokovic’s 32nd straight win at his favourite stomping ground came by the margin of 6-0 6-0 6-3.
“The tension was growing as the match progressed without him winning a game,” Djokovic told reporters.
“Of course, it’s tough for him, but also for me to be able to not think about that … I was happy that got that out of the way … then I focused on what I need to do to close out the match.”
Djokovic will meet Fritz in his 58th Grand Slam quarter-final — a record the world number one now shares with Roger Federer — as he seeks a record 25th major singles title.
The American played an excellent match to beat Greek seventh seed Tsitsipas 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3 6-3 but will take an 0-8 record into his first Australian Open quarter-final.
“As far as playing me, (Djokovic) hasn’t ever had a reason to change up what he’s doing or change strategy because it’s always gone his way,” said Fritz.