Novak Djokovic’s tease to rivals as Australian Open winning streak extends to 31
Just as the tennis world started to believe Novak Djokovic was beatable, he produced a performance to put the doubters back in their place.
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Just as the tennis world started to believe Novak Djokovic was beatable, he produced a performance to put the doubters back in their place.
In his 100th appearance at Melbourne Park, the world No. 1 extended his record Australian Open winning streak to 31 matches and reminded rivals of his place atop the pecking order.
His 6-3 6-3 7-6(2) victory over 30th seed Tomas Etcheverry put paid to the young Argentinian’s impressive run through the top half of the draw that featured straight-sets demolition jobs on former top 10 players Andy Murray and Gael Monfils.
With another major scalp in his sights, Etcheverry was instead powerless in the face of Djokovic’s relentless consistency on Rod Laver Arena.
The Serbian superstar was back to his unflappable best on Friday night, breezing past his talented rival without seeing even a single break point.
This was the Djokovic of old; the one unbeaten at Melbourne Park since the start of 2019.
Etcheverry fought tooth and nail to send the third set into a tie-breaker but by the end of the first point, the writing was on the wall.
Djokovic surgically picked apart the Argentinian, who ran for his life in a 25-shot rally that emptied what gas he had left in the tank. First he takes your legs, then your soul.
After the point Djokovic held a finger to his ear, demanding the crowd find its voice.
Rod Laver Arena roared its approval as he romped home to book a spot in the fourth round.
It is the 15th time in 19 Australian Open appearances Djokovic has reached at least the fourth round.
“Yes, it was a great match. The best performance I had during this tournament,” Djokovic said.
🇦🇺 Novak Djokovic on his 1st AO appearance vs Novak Djokovic on his 100th AO appearance 🤩ðŸ#AusOpenpic.twitter.com/3j2kq2sEmT
— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 19, 2024
I am pleased with the way I played through the entire match, particularly the first two sets.”
Questions had been asked of his level after struggling through the opening two matches of the tournament and Djokovic himself even conceded he had been far from his brilliant best.
En route to his 10th Australian Open title last year, he dropped just one set for the entire tournament. Entering Friday night’s third round encounter he had already conceded two.
He was pushed to four sets by unknown Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic in the first round and even conceded Aussie Alexei Popyrin was the better player “for one-and-a-half sets” in their second round clash on Wednesday night.
With Alex de Minaur, Jannick Sinner and Andrey Rublev all in great form and vying for a semi-final date with the 24-time grand slam champion, Djokovic had looked vulnerable.
But this latest performance will send a shiver through the rest of the draw.
Adrian Mannarino will be the next to test Djokovic after the Frenchman outlasted Ben Shelton over five sets on Friday night.
He has never beaten Djokovic in four career encounters, though the last came way back in 2018.
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Originally published as Novak Djokovic’s tease to rivals as Australian Open winning streak extends to 31
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