(Melbourne) Novak Djokovic, 5e world, did not experience any discomfort, either at the level of the bandaged left thigh or from his opponent, on Monday to climb to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open by beating the Australian Alex De Minaur (24e) 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
“I can’t apologize for not making the match last longer. I wanted to win in three sets, “said the Serb to the public, believing he had played his” best game “since the start of the season.
To see him play as he played on Monday, we think that only his thigh injury can prevent him from winning his tenth Australian Open on Sunday. And maybe De Minaur thought about it at the start of the game when he tried to hold the exchange and overtake Djokovic.
But the Serb confirmed at the end of the meeting that he had “felt nothing” in his thigh.
“Today, it was not seen that I was injured”, he even underlined.
“I don’t want to celebrate too soon, I never take anything for granted, but I’m happy with the way I played, the way I hit the ball, the way I moved,” he said. he rocks.
His last two games had obviously been very complicated due to pain. So how did this one disappear?
“I’ve been taking a lot of anti-inflammatory pills the past few days to mask the pain. Usually I don’t like that. I don’t want to go into further explanations, but today was fine, ”he said.
He will face the Russian Andrey Rublev (6e) for a place in the last four.
“He is very powerful on serve and forehand. Very explosive… a bit like De Minaur, so I hope the result will be the same”, he analysed.
Djokovic is on a quest in Melbourne for a 22e Grand Slam title to equal Spanish rival Rafael Nadal’s record. If he wins the tournament, he will also recover the place of world No.1.