It's never easy to play an Australian at the first major of the season in Melbourne, but Novak Djokovic showed that it doesn't make him any problems.
The 35-year-old Serbian took on the 22nd-seeded Alex de Minaur in the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open. The Australian was confident ahead of their meeting, but soon the 21-time Grand Slam champion showed him a few reasons why everyone fears him on the Rod Laver Arena.
The two never met before, but only three weeks ago, De Minaur stunned Rafael Nadal at the United Cup, and he wanted to cause a similar upset also in Melbourne. But his more experienced opponent didn't allow that.
Both players started the match with a few solid holds of serve, but then, Djokovic started a one-man show. He went on to win nine consecutive games and before De Minaur realized it, the score was 6-2, 6-1 in just an hour and 16 minutes.
The Australian needed something special in the third set, but he couldn't deliver it. He just narrowly avoided a bagel again and despite his best efforts, Djokovic dominated the third set to win the match 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in a bit more than 2 hours.
In the next round, he will take on the fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev, who won despite facing two match points against Holger Rune earlier today.
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