Australian Open Day 8: Novak Djokovic ‘humiliates’ Aussie in ruthless display

Novak Djokovic monstered Aussie Alex de Minaur on Monday night and showed his ruthless nature with one answer post-game.

Novak Djokovic is monstering Alex de Minaur

The quarter-final picture is locked in at the Australian Open after Monday’s action at Melbourne Park.

More seeds fell by the wayside as day seven unfolded, but it was all eyes on Rod Laver Arena on Monday night as nine-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic went up against Aussie Alex de Minaur.

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The hopes of a nation settled in to take in the action. In a little over thirty minutes those hopes were dashed.

Djokovic who entered the contest with a suspect hamstring injury, quickly put those fears to bed as he displayed his best tennis so far of the tournament.

After a promising start that saw the scoreline locked at 2-2 in the opening set, Djokovic turned into the terminator as he ripped the heart clean out of the Aussie and the crowd inside the arena.

The 21-time Grand Slam winner rattled off 16 of the next 19 games as he claimed the 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 victory in two hours and six minutes.

“(Alex de Minaur) is getting bullied around the tennis court,” Roger Rasheed said on SEN.

“This is as good as I’ve seen him move (this tournament).”

Sportsbet’s Sam Phillips wrote: “If I’m Demon here I’m “straining” my back + pulling the pin asap. Proper humiliation, unfortunately.”

From 2-2 and De Minaur playing well, Djokovic has gone into a gear that only he has.

8 unanswered games. Mind-bogglingly good. And he’s sending a statement.

— David Law (@DavidLawTennis) January 23, 2023

Novak is mauling the demon.

— Chris Oddo (@TheFanChild) January 23, 2023

This is workplace bullying.
Djokovic is ridiculous.
Someone give De Minaur a hug. #AusOpen

— Rory Flanagan (@Rory_Flanagan) January 23, 2023

This is crushingly relentless stuff from Novak Djokovic. Just in a completely different orbit than Alex De Minaur tonight.#AusOpen

— Nick McCarvel (@NickMcCarvel) January 23, 2023

The Serbian superstar was just as ruthless post-game as he was during the action.

Jim Courier asked him with his opening question: “I’m not going to ask you how you beat him so convincingly. I’ll ask you why you beat him so convincingly.”

A cold-blooded Djokovic responded: “Because I wanted to.”

After being asked how his injury was and how it had plagued him throughout the contest, he said the concerns weren’t with him on Monday night.

“Tonight it wasn’t obvious I was dealing with an injury. I mean ...I didn’t feel anything today,” he said.

“Today was great. I thank my medical team, my physio. Thank God anybody that really helped me.”

Djokovic will now take on Russian Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals after his stunning five-set thriller against Holger Rune.

The three other quarterfinal contests will see Karen Khachanov take on Sebastian Korda, Stefanos Tsitsipas take on Jiri Lehecka and Ben Shelton square off agaisnt Tommy Paul.

Good luck stopping this man. (Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA / AFP)

9.30pm - Unseeded American advances into QF

For the first time in 23 years three Americans will be in the quarterfinal stages of the Australian Open.

Tommy Paul became the third to join Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda after he took care of business against 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

7pm — American’s dream run continues

Ben Shelton is through to the quarterfinals after taking down J.J Wolf in a five-set thriller on John Cain Arena.

The American youngster etches his name into the record books, as he becomes the first NCAA men’s singles champ to make the quarterfinal stages since Arthur Ashe first did it way back in 1966.

He’ll now await the winner of the contest between Roberto Bautista Agut and fellow unseeded American Tommy Paul.

6.40pm — ‘Cannot believe it’: AO absurdity stuns fans

Andrey Rublev has pulled off a comeback for the ages by defeating Holger Rune to book a quarterfinal spot.

The Russian fifth-seed defied the odds to book his spot against the winner of Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur.

Read more here.

5pm — Demon called out by girlfriend

Alex de Minaur has been put on blast by his girlfriend ahead of his showdown with Novak Djokovic on Monday night.

The man known as the “Demon” comfortably took care of business in straight sets on Saturday night against Benjamin Bonzi to set up the fourth round encounter as the 21-time Grand Slam winner.

De Minaur attempted to hype up the contest with a post to his Instagram account as he uploaded several photos alongside the caption: “Tomorrow 7pm RLA, it’s a date. See you soon.”

Unfortunately for the Aussie he was called out on the post by his girlfriend, Katie Boulter. The two have been dating since March 2020, but the British player took issue with the post.

Boulter, tongue in cheek, commented under the post: “Who’s RLA and why they taking you on a date?”

2.50pm — Fourth seed sent packing

Women’s fourth seed Caroline Garcia is out of the Australian Open after falling in straight seets to unseeded Magda Linette.

Linette dominated her opponent in blistering conditions to claim the 7-6, 6-4 victory and book a spot in the quarterfinals.

Garcia, who won the WTA Finals last season, raced away to an early 3-1 lead in the first set before Linette flipped the momentum and put her to the sword.

The Polish star is through to her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal in her 30th appearance and will now go up against former world number one Karolina Pliskova.

"I can't believe it. I don't know what to say."

🇵🇱Magda Linette is 30 years old.

She's never made a Slam quarterfinal.

That changed today, when she defeated No. 4 seed Caroline Garcia in straight sets 7-6 (3), 6-4.

A career-defining moment.#AusOpen | #AustralianOpenpic.twitter.com/wmSrwPtHVJ

— Lukas Weese (@Weesesports) January 23, 2023

12.45pm — ‘Holy s***’: Star blows tennis world away

Aryna Sabalenka has made a statement in a straight-sets win over Belinda Bencic on Rod Laver Arena.

Sabalenka fired 30 winners in the 7-6 6-2 match where she came back from 4-2 down in the first set before winning 11 of the final 14 service games.

She was playing almost flawless tennis and prominent tennis journalist Jose Morgado has described her showing as “by far” the best performance the women’s singles draw has seen across the entire tournament.

Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka celebrates another winner. Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP.

She is yet to lose a set at the Open this year and also won four matches without dropping a set in Adelaide, giving her a perfct record of winning all 16 sets she has played in 2023.

As reported by Twitter profile @tennisaddiction, Sabalenka has fired off 121 winners and just 76 unforced errors at Melbourne Park. Morgado described the her stats sheet as “ridiculous”.

Aryna Sabalenka has been on fire. Photo: Twitter, @tennisaddiction.

11am — Demon’s hilarious TV cameo

Alex de Minaur has ambushed John Millman on live TV.

Just hours before his blockbuster against Novak Djokovic de Minaur answered a phone call from Millman when the Aussie veteran called him during a live segment on Channel 9 on Monday morning.

Millman clearly didn’t expect the Aussie No. 22 seed to pick up, but the Demon showed he is just as quick with his banter as he is scurrying around the court.

Millman held his phone to his broadcast microphone so the audience could hear his responses and de Minaur could be heard telling his Davis Cup teammate: “You look really good on TV. I love the way you did your hair today”.

It left Aussie greats Alicia Molik and Todd Woodbridge giggling.

De Minaur also joked Millman has given him the perfect gameplan to defeat Djokovic despite Millman holding a 0-4 record against the 21-time grand slam champion.

John Millman called Alex de Minaur on live TV. Photo: Channel 9.

John Millman called Alex de Minaur on live TV. Photo: Channel 9.

The 23-year-old, nicknamed Demon, is the only Australian left in men’s or women’s singles and will need all the help he can get when he faces Djokovic in the last 16.

“Look, it’s no secret that I love playing here in my backyard,” said De Minaur, who was born in Sydney but whose father is Uruguayan and his mother Spanish.

“I think the Aussie crowd is amazing. They’ve had my back from day dot, so I’ll always cherish that,” added De Minaur.

It is the second year in a row that De Minaur has made it to the fourth round at Melbourne. His best performance at a Grand Slam was the US Open quarter-finals in 2020.

11am — Coco Gauff in tears after fourth round Aus Open loss

Coco Gauff broke down in tears during an emotional press conference following her surprise exit from the Australian Open at the last-16 stage on Sunday.

The 18-year-old usually cuts a composed figure under the glare of the world’s media, despite her tender age.

But it all became too much when asked about the frustration she felt during her 7-5 6-3 fourth-round defeat to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion.

Coco Gauff of the US reacts on a point against Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko. Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP.

“I worked really hard and I felt really good coming into the tournament, and I still feel good,” Gauff told reporters.

“I still feel like I’ve improved a lot. But, you know, when you play a player like her and she plays really well, it’s like there’s nothing you can do.”

The prodigiously talented American, who must now wait at least a bit longer for a first major crown, added: “I feel like today I would say nothing because every match you play a part in, but I feel like it was rough.

“So it’s a little bit frustrating on that part.”

Her voice suddenly began to crack, the tears flowed and the teenager was offered a tissue, before saying: “I’m OK. We can keep going.”

Gauff gathered herself to say she would now be supporting her doubles partner Jessica Pegula, who was later playing another former French Open champion, Barbora Krejcikova, for a place in the last eight.

“I hope that she continues well in the tournament now that I’m out,” Gauff smiled. “I hope she wins it.”

— with AFP