Like the previous match of the afternoon at Rod Laver Arena, we also witnessed another easy match over in the men’s draw during the fourth round between reigning champion Novak Djokovic & 20th seed Adrian Mannarino from France. The first two sets all belongs to Djokovic unchallenged and although Mannarino finally got the ball rolling but still the match belongs to him in straight sets (6-0, 6-0 & 6-3). He will now be watching the 2nd afternoon match of the day where American Taylor Fritz & last year’s finalist opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) are currently battling it out to try & book a spot with him for the last eight at John Cain Arena.
Well, that was tough but he did bring some smiles and laughter to the crowd after Mannarino was easily eliminated just outside the last eight for the second time at Melbourne Park. The last time he was here was two years ago where the Frenchman was defeated by Rafa Nadal despite an intense first set via the tiebreak 14-16. Yes, he just wasn’t at the races today where Mannarino made some small games this late in this match. However, he had a great run beforehand who overcame a series of five-set showdowns including 16th seed American & also rising star Ben Shelton. He’s currently the best men’s ranked player in his country with still some energy left in the tank at age 35 as let’s hope his next run here will be a QF.
Meanwhile, things ain’t so hard today from the reigning AO champion where he got the job done as quickly on what has been an unusual daytime outime despite the roof being closed as he can in 1 hour and 44 minutes. As said, he was simply too good and unplayable all along without a lot of fuss from start to finish. Now he’s open for another challenge who can push him all the way like 1st round opponent Croatian Dino Prozmic did to him at the tiebreak during the 2nd set before the Serbian responded well towards the end there. That remains to be if it’s going to be Tsitsipas again who is eager to face him again following the last year’s final. If not after another easy run, then there’s always Daniil Medvedev or the new rising Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on the road towards next Sunday’s main event here.
