Novak Djokovic cruises past Alex de Minaur in straight sets to reach quarterfinals of Australian Open:

CNN
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Novak Djokovic was in superb form once again as he beat Alex de Minaur in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

The world No. 5 produced some brilliant tennis throughout the match, winning 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in just two hours and seven minutes as the de Minaur got the better of Djokovic’s ruthless, ruthless talent. had no answer.

It looked like this match might be a tough test for Djokovic after the first four games, but the 21-time Grand Slam champion made a fool of himself to run away with the match, winning 16 of 19 games.

Djokovic will now face 5th seed Andrey Rublev for a place in the semi-finals.

“I can’t say I’m sorry you didn’t see the long match,” Djokovic told the audience in his post-match interview. “I really wanted to win in straight sets. Obviously, you never know what’s going to happen in court. You have to deal with a lot of things on and off the court.

“The first four or five games were close, one break of serve in the first set. I started to feel looser and freer to pass the ball and be more aggressive. I sensed that he was a bit more nervous … this was my chance to take advantage.

“Things can change in terms of moments, in terms of points. I’ve played the best match of the year so far… I felt good in the first match, not so good in the second, so I’m not going to play any game. Not to take things lightly, but I was happy with the way I went and the way I went today. I hit the ball.”

De Minaur hung on in the opening set for the first four games, but as Djokovic continued to hit his groundstrokes with depth and power, success felt like only a matter of time.

Djokovic took the first set 6-2 after a run of four straight games.

The Australian crowd did their best to pick up the D Minor, giving the home favorite a standing ovation as the players made their way to the second set.

Things didn’t get any easier for de Minaur, however, as Djokovic held serve and then quickly broke the Aussie to extend his winning streak to six games.

It was the first time these players had faced each other and De Minaur – if he didn’t already know – was finding out just how brutal it is to play on Rod Laver against Djokovic.

Despite that left hamstring still being heavily sprained, there were absolutely no signs of Djokovic being physically hampered as the 35-year-old began to put on a tennis masterclass.

Few players – if any – during Djokovic’s illustrious career have been able to hang with the Serb when he finds this kind of form.

Unforced errors were few and far between, with his shots — which seem to be packing more punch than ever lately — finding their spots with ruthless precision.

Djokovic raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set after a run of eight straight games and, with de Minaur trying to keep up with his opponent during every rally and pressing every sign, the match was already decided. felt conclusion

De Minaur ended Djokovic’s nine-match streak by going 0-5 down in the second set to finally escape the bagel. That will be little consolation for the 23-year-old, but he deserves huge credit for continuing to fight for every point and never letting his intensity drop.

Unfortunately for De Minaur, there were no signs of Djokovic’s intensity waning as he raced to a 4-0 lead in the third set.

De Minaur continued to grind though and escaped a bagel in the third set to make it 4-1.

The Australian crowd, recognizing the effort their man was still applying, roared in approval, with the shouts of winning a set rather than just a game. But it was only delaying the inevitable as Djokovic quickly wrapped up the final set 6-2.

It may seem like a futile task for Djokovic to play three more matches before securing a 10th Australian Open title, with the Serbian a heavy favorite given the excellent form he has shown so far in Melbourne.

In his post-match interview after coming through a five-set epic against Holger Rooney, Rublev jokingly lamented that he had to beat Djokovic to reach a first Grand Slam semi-final.

The remaining players in the draw likely feel the same way about the prospect of facing Djokovic to win the Australian Open.