- By Manik Sharma
- Fri, 19 Jan 2024 09:02 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Australian Open 2024: Novak Djokovic showed why he is the best in the business once again, moving closer to an 11th Australian Open title with a clinical victory over Argentine Tomas Etcheverry in straight sets - 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(2).
Playing his 100th Australian Open match, Djokovic demonstrated class as he progressed into the second week of the tournament. While Etcheverry challenged Djokovic in the third set, the top seed's clinical performance earned him a spot in the last 16, where he will face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who triumphed over American Ben Shelton in five sets.
"It was a great match, the best for me so far in this tournament and I was pleased with the way I played the entire match. He raised his level in the third and we went toe to toe, but I found the right shots in the tiebreaker to close it," PTI quoted Djokovic as saying.
In men's doubles, the Indo-Australian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden breezed through to the third round with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 win against local hopefuls John Millman and Edward Winter. They now face the 14th-seeded Dutch-Croatian team of Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic in the next round.
Another Indian, Sriram Balaji, alongside Romanian partner Victor Cornea, advanced to the second round of the men's doubles by defeating the Italian pair of Matteo Arnaldi and Andrea Pellegrino 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round.
Defending women's champion Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominant run, defeating Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko 6-0, 6-0 in less than an hour. Sabalenka, reminiscent of her performance last year, advanced to the last 16 without dropping a set.
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Following match point, the players did not shake hands. Tsurenko of Ukraine later emphasised not forgetting the ongoing conflict in her country, particularly after Russia's 2022 invasion.
Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff, and Stefanos Tsitsipas also secured efficient victories in their third-round matches.
