Australian Open, day 8: Djokovic advances to the round of 16, reaches Federer’s record and gets closer to the duel at the top with Sinner

The paths of the two who have shown the best performances at the Australian Open so far are about to cross. This Sunday the world number 1 Novak Djokovic and the Italian one Jannik Sinner (4th) were just one game away from facing each other in the Melbourne semi-finals after both easily progressed through the round of 16 against the Frenchman Adriano Mannarino and Russian Karen Khachanovrespectively.

On his way to his 25th Grand Slam title and 11th in Australia, Djokovic appears to be going from less to more as usual in Serbia and crushed the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who at 35 is in the Top 20 for the first time in his career.

The defeat was almost historic, after Djokovic won the first two sets 6-0. “It’s hard not to think”the Serbian admitted at the end of the match that he had closed the match with a triple ‘rosco’.

“There was so much tension in the third set that I almost thought it was right to concede a game. This way I could stop thinking about it and focus again on what I had to do to close the match”he concluded in a press conference.

The number one in the world he is in the round of 16 of a Slam for the 58th time, equaling Roger Federer’s record.

“Winning the Grand Slam, breaking records and being at the top of the sport is something that is always a goal, without a doubt,” confessed Djokovic, who described himself as a “fierce competitor”.

“I always look for my best performance. I strive every day for it to happen and when it doesn’t happen I get frustrated. The flame continues to burn. I think that’s what has allowed me to be where I am, to achieve the things that I have achieved,” he added.

To carry 32 consecutive games won at the Australian Open, after losing to South Korea’s Chung Hyeon in 2018.

For a place in the semifinals, Djokovic, who did not compete in Australia in 2022 because he was not vaccinated against the coronavirus, will face the American Taylor Fritztwelfth seed, who won 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-3 and 6-3 against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipasseventh seed and finalist the previous year.

Fritz will be the last obstacle before Djokovic can face the Italian Jannik Sinner (N.4), in what for many would be the long-awaited final between the two best tennis players of recent months.

Sinner defeated the Russian with ease Karen Khachanov (N.15), by 6-4, 7-5 and 6-3, and reaches the quarter-finals without losing a single set and playing a maximum of two and a half hours per game.

Sinner, 22, has already equaled his best result in Australia (2022), while his limit in a Grand Slam tournament is last year’s Wimbledon semi-final.

His next rival will be the winner of the duel between Russian Andrey Rublev (N.5) and Australian Álex de Miñaur (N.10) this Sunday.

Sinner was the only tennis player to beat Djokovic after Wimbledon at the end of the season and he even did it twice: in the first phase of the ATP Masters (although he then lost the final to the Serbian) and in the Davis Cup.

Same horizon in the women’s national team

The same happens in the women’s field with the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, world no.2 and reigning champion of the event, and the American Coco Gauff (no.4), the last two survivors of the Top 10.

“I feel stronger than last year,” Sabalenka acknowledged after defeating American Amanda Anisimova last Sunday, whom she defeated 6-3, 6-2 in just 70 minutes.

For now, the results prove the 25-year-old right: she finished the first three matches in less than three hours of accumulated time on the court and in the previous round she scored a double 6-0 against the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko (No. 33).

Sabalenka, who risks becoming the first tennis player to retain the title in Australia after her compatriot Victoria Azarenka won it in 2012 and 2013, will face Czech Barbora Krejcikova in the quarterfinals, who ended the dream of Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva (16 years old), who he defeated 4-6, 6-3 and 6-2.

The other representative of the women’s Top 10 competing in Melbourne, Coco Gauff (No.4) also easily beat the Polish Magdalena Frech (69) 6-1 and 6-2 and the last winner of the US Open is only separated from Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk (N.35) in her first semi-final in Melbourne.

All the results of the eighth day

– Men’s singles, round of 16 –

Novak Djokovic (Serbia, 1st) defeated Adrian Mannarino (France, 20th) 6-0, 6-0, 6-3

Taylor Fritz (United States, 12th), Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece, 7th) 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3

Jannik Sinner (Italy, 4th) beats Karen Khachanov (Russia, 15th) 6-4, 7-5, 6-3

– Women’s singles, round of 16 –

Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine), beats Maria Timofeeva (Russia) 6-2, 6-1

Cori Gauff (United States, 4th), beats Magdalena Frech (Poland) 6-1, 6-2

Barbora Krejcíková (Czech Republic, 9th), beats Mirra Andreeva (Russia) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus, 2nd), vs. Amanda Anisimova (United States) 6-3, 6-2.