Novak powers into quarter-final with Alcaraz! – Novak Djokovic

Nole arrange an Australian Open quarter-final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz, surging previous tough seeded opponent from the Czech Republic.

24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic delivered one other masterclass in Melbourne on Sunday to beat Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in two hours and 39 minutes.

It was an excellent take a look at for Novak, who brushed previous the twenty fourth seed breaking him 3 times from 11 alternatives inside Rod Laver Area.

Djokovic performed with nice depth, his motion was distinctive and he was in management all through the second profession encounter with the Czech. He received 81 per cent of factors behind his first serve and was 16/18 when approaching the web (89%).

The file 10-time titlist at Melbourne Park broke as soon as in every set and misplaced his serve as soon as.

Match statistics: aces (Sep 11), double faults (3-4), winners (27-39), unforced errors (21-44), complete factors received (108-90).

“I felt nice,” stated Djokovic. “A few hiccups right here and there, a unfastened recreation after I broke his serve within the third. After that I had probabilities to interrupt him, however each time I had a chance to interrupt him, he would serve large. Simply very highly effective and exact. A distinct opponent in comparison with my final spherical rival, however there have been fairly a couple of similarities, with a flat backhand and fairly an aggressive fashion. I dealt with the stress moments properly and performed some nice factors in direction of the top of the match.”

A blockbuster quarter-final conflict with Carlos Alcaraz (ESP, 3) will happen on Tuesday.

Alcaraz led Jack Draper 7-5, 6-1 when the Brit retired from their fourth spherical conflict.

Novak leads Alcaraz 4-3 within the pair’s ATP H2H collection. The Serbian star triumphed of their final assembly within the Olympic Video games last in Paris final summer season, when he claimed an emotional first gold medal.

Photograph: Profimedia