At Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic had his easiest win since the Australian Open 2024 started, he won 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 against Mannarino in the fourth round.
"I really wanted to lose the third set because the tension was running high on the court," Djokovic joked after the match, hinting at his ability to win the match without dropping a set. "I solved that problem and refocused."
With the victory over Mannarino, the world number one reached the last 8 of a Grand Slam for the 58th time, equaling Roger Federer's record.
Djokovic celebrates victory in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2024 (Photo: Getty).
Djokovic has won 32 consecutive matches at the Australian Open, unbeaten since losing to South Korean Chung Hyeon in 2018. Djokovic will not compete in 2022 due to being barred from entering Australia due to Covid-19 vaccination issues.
Mannarino is enjoying a late-career resurgence, winning three titles last year in Newport, Astana and Sofia. However, the 20th seed struggled in the first three rounds of the 2024 Australian Open, having to play consecutive five-set matches.
In the fourth round match, Mannarino did not cause much trouble for Djokovic. The reigning men's singles champion faced a double break-point early in the first game. However, after successfully defending his first serve game, Djokovic easily went straight to a 6-0 victory after winning 3 breaks.
In the second set, Mannarino still had difficulty expressing himself, the French player's efforts were not enough to end his bad serve games. The result of the second set was still the same as the first set, Djokovic won 6-0 again.
After losing 13 games in a row, Mannarino finally won the first game when he successfully defended game 2 in set 3. The French player tried harder than the previous two sets, but he still lost the break in game 4. Djokovic played solidly in the service games and only needed one break to create a turning point, he won 6-3 and finished the match after only 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Speaking about his own performance, Djokovic said: "I played great from the first point to the last. The last few days have been really good, everything is going in a positive direction."
Taylor Fritz defeated 7th seed Tsitsipas (Photo: Getty).
Djokovic will face American 12th seed Taylor Fritz for a place in the semi-finals. Fritz had an impressive fourth-round performance when he defeated runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
The second men's singles quarterfinal pair at the 2024 Australian Open has also been confirmed, Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev. Fourth seed Sinner defeated Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 at Margaret Court Arena. Fifth seed Rublev defeated 10th seed Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0.
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