Novak Djokovic vs. Adrian Mannarino: Australian Open Round of 16 Showdown

Holder of a Master’s degree in sports journalism, I fell in love with tennis since childhood and have always loved reading the great stories of this sport. Today, I want to tell them about them, take full advantage of my passion and be as close as possible to the aces of the circuit.

For the first day of the round of 16 of the Australian Open, spectators should appreciate the level of play. But we will especially watch the performance of Adrian Mannarino against the best in tennis, Novak Djokovic . The Serbian, author of a sluggish start to the tournament, will face an opponent who is almost his age and who has played almost 12 hours. Suffice to say that on paper, the duel seems very unbalanced. That’s the case of course, but with the “Divine Bald” as the fans like to call him, we can only enjoy it.

This is surely the most unbalanced poster of the day in the men’s tournament. Yet Adrian Mannarino continues to wow crowds by producing the best tennis of his career at age 35. The Frenchman, who has the best ranking of his career this week (19th in the world), will have to achieve an improbable feat to reach the first quarter-final of his career. Novak Djokovic will surely not let him do it, he who is looking for an eleventh title at Melbourne.

Such an atypical but endearing player

If you’ve never watched a gameAdrian Mannarino, take a look, it’s definitely worth it. The French left-hander is truly unique, he prepares by not knowing his opponent in advance, he stretches his racket around 10 kilos and hits the ball like no other. He is capable of anything on a court but walking will be very difficult this Sunday against Novak Djokovic. He will still be able to count on the incredible support of the French clan who came in large numbers to Melbourneoften won over by his performances.

Tennis: Djokovic without filter, Federer doesn’t like it! pic.twitter.com/IEbeFfKydj

— le10sport (@le10sport) January 19, 2024

Djokovic trop fort

Adrian Mannarino has still spent a lot of time on the court since the start of the tournament. For comparison, he spent more time in 3 matches than Roger Federer in total during his title at Wimbledon in 2017. Efforts which will have to be paid at some point and in the face of Novak Djokovic, the bill could be hefty. The Serb for his part did not display extraordinary serenity for his debut. “Djoko‐Manna on this surface can last 6 hours. Can’t wait to see what it turns out! » however reacted Gilles Simon on X (formerly Twitter). Response in the night.

Mannarino, incredible trajectory

Winner of 3 titles on the circuit ATP in 2023, Adrian Mannarino seems to play better with time. At 35, he continues to amaze the tennis world even though he seemed to be in great difficulty, for example during his third round against Ben Shelton Friday. But it is he who will challenge Novak Djokovic on Sunday, an opponent he has never beaten before. The two men have not played each other since Cincinnati 2018, where the Frenchman won the first round.

2024-01-20 18:42:49
#Australian #Open #DjokovicMannarino #unattainable #peak