Friday 27 / December / 2024
Melbourne: Reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic came close to completing a 'triple bagel' victory against Adrian Mannarino in the ongoing edition of the tournament on Sunday.
The World No. 1 tennis star hardly broke a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 victory against the Frenchman. His recent success saw him level Roger Federer's record by reaching a 58th Grand Slam quarter-final.
The 36-year-old was flawless in the first two sets as he breezed past Adrian and took a 2-0 lead. He went on to win 13 straight games which raised hopes of spectators to witness something that is yet to unfold.
Djokovic seemed poised to become the first player to claim a 'triple bagel' victory at the Australian Open but the Frenchman managed to break the win streak and clinch his first game in the third set.
The relief was clearly visible on Adrian's face after he clinched the first game in round four. However, his hopes of eventually making a comeback in the game faded away with Djokovic emerging victorious with a 6-3 victory.
Djokovic bagged 17 aces throughout the game and had a first-serve win ratio of 81 per cent.
After the game, Djokovic talked about his dominant performance and said, "The best sets I've played in a while....The tension was building up so much in the stadium. I needed to get that out of the way and refocus on what I needed to do to finish the match."
"I served very well. In the moments when I needed to come up with the first serve, I did. All in all, great performance," Djokovic added.
The Serbian will face Taylor Fritz in the quarter-final as he looks to defend his crown. (ANI)
