Novak Djokovic breezed into his 58th Grand Slam quarterfinal after delivering an absolute drubbing to 20th seed Adrian Mannarino.
Djokovic's passage to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open was far from serene when he started his title defense by playing the longest first-round match of his Grand Slam career against Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic.
He needed four sets in each of his opening two rounds, but whatever afflicted him at the start of the tournament has now been curbed. Djokovic produced the best match of the tournament by his own lofty standards, beating Adrian Mannarino 6-0, 6-0, 6-3.
The match lasted an hour and 46 minutes. Djokovic tallied 17 aces to five double faults and a healthy 81% first-serve points won. He was unblemished in saving break points (3 out of 3) and broke the Frenchman seven times.
Djokovic's dominance is further encapsulated by the fact that he was playing as a Top 20 player thanks to Mannarino's stunning renaissance in the second half of last season, which aided him in breaking that barrier for the first time at the age of 35.
Djokovic emulated a personal record in victory, dropping the fewest games against an ATP Top 20 player in a Grand Slam match (three). Djokovic also dropped the same number of games in his semifinal win over then defending champion Marin Cilic at the 2015 US Open.
Additionally, since the ATP rankings came into existence in 1973, Djokovic became the first player not to concede a single game in the first two sets of a Grand Slam match against a Top 20 opponent.
The Serb had served a double bagel in the first two sets and stood five games away from a mammoth milestone before Mannarino eventually won three games in the third set.
Djokovic has now strengthened his grip on the men's title and will face USA's Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinal in a rematch from their bout at the same tournament three years ago.
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