He was overcome with laughter, and so were his loved ones courtside. At 6-0, 6-0 against him, when he sat down in his chair, Adrian Mannarino had already been resigned for a while, he who, at the start of the tournament, estimated his chances of beating Novak Djokovic at 1%. Despite two double faults from the start of the match (and two break points saved in the process), on Sunday, the world number one quickly took the measure of an opponent who, in five clashes, has now only taken him only one set. Certainly, the points dragged on, like this 32-shot rally in the third game, but Djokovic inexorably ended up imposing his power on the exchange. Unable to overtake the Serb, Mannarino, despite all his will, thus became the first top 20 in History to concede the first two sets in a Grand Slam without registering a single game.
Pained for the Frenchman, the audience at the Rod Laver Arena nevertheless rose en masse and gave him a standing ovation at the start of the third round, when he finally won his very first game. Irritated by the reaction of the crowd, Djokovic then bickered with her, before resuming his demolition work. After just 1h44, the 36-year-old Serbian could enjoy his 58th qualification (6-0, 6-0, 6-3) for a Grand Slam quarter-final, an absolute record (tied with Roger Federer). With more than double the points won (85 against 42), the ten-time winner of the tournament legitimately considered having played his “two best sets in a while. »
“It took me a little time to adapt, and against these players, I can’t afford it”
“I had the impression of not having a solution,” confided the defeated man. It was a bit tricky, I had to get used to the conditions which are really very different from those on the other courts. Central is very, very slow. It took me a little time to adapt, and against these players, I can’t afford it. He had a very good level of play and I couldn’t overtake him. Maybe I wasn’t playing fast enough, but when I tried, I made more mistakes. And then physically, I felt like I was a little worse than usual. Faced with this kind of player, if you are at 80 or 85%, you cannot hold on. »
For once, the Frenchman had learned the name of his opponent well in advance. “Before the match against (Ben) Shelton, I was worried…, I took my cell phone and I read something that talked about a possible eighth against Djoko. Afterwards, maybe it also freed me to face Shelton. Because sometimes you psychoticize yourself by telling yourself that maybe you have a great painting behind it. »
“When I scored my first game, with the whole crowd screaming like that, I couldn’t remain unmoved”
Even if, at 35 years old, he will not play a first quarter-final in a Major, “Manna” was pleased with his Australian career and assured that he still had fun facing the best player in the world. “Honestly, if I had taken three bubbles, it wouldn’t have affected me that much. It would have just gotten people talking a lot. When I scored my first game, with the whole crowd screaming like that, I couldn’t remain unmoved. In these cases, you start to smile and you free yourself because you tell yourself that it can’t be worse! »
2024-01-21 15:06:10
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