Novak Djokovic of Serbia knocked out Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International Tennis on Friday.
Djokovic, the first seed of the tournament, thus signed an eighth victory in as many attempts against Shapovalov. In Saturday’s semi-final, he will face Russian Daniil Medvedev, who had defeated his compatriot Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-3 earlier in the day.
Facing the 5e world player, Shapovalov scored six aces but committed seven double faults. In comparison, Djokovic slammed four aces and made three double faults.
Shapovalov was successful on 53% of his first serves and won 66% of the points after lodging his first ball in play, statistics lower than those of Djokovic (57% and 78%).
The 23-year-old Canadian, 18e in the world, got a break of service in four attempts. That break came in the sixth game of the second set, which allowed Shapovalov to make it 3-3.
However, Djokovic went for his third break of the match – and his second of the second set – in the ninth game. He was thus placed in a position to close the match on his serve from the next game, which he accomplished.
Djokovic signed up for the tournament in preparation for the Australian Open, which will start on Monday January 16 in Melbourne. Djokovic was unable to participate in this tournament last year because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19.
In Saturday’s semi-final, Djokovic will face the 2022 Australian Open runner-up. Medvedev lost to Rafael Nadal.
“It’s never easy to play against your compatriot,” Medvedev said of his duel against Khachanov.
“I’m happy that I was able to really raise the level of my game, especially towards the end of the two sets, and I’m very happy to have qualified for the semi-finals. »
The 2021 United States Open champion, Medvedev has twice lost in the Australian Open final. In 2021, he lost to Djokovic, whom he then beat at Flushing Meadows.
“For sure I played well last year and I’m playing well now”, analyzed Medvedev, ranked 3e seeded in Adelaide.
“Honestly, that’s all that matters. To win a Grand Slam tournament, or to reach the final, you need to be at your best for seven games. I managed to do it once and came really close last year. And that’s what I’m going to try to do again in a few weeks in Melbourne,” added Medvedev.
In other quarter-final matches played on Friday, American Sebastian Korda defeated sixth-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner 7-5, 6-1, while Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (4), 6-7 (8), 6-2.
Coming from the qualifications, Popyrin eliminated Montrealer Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the first round of the tournament on Monday.
Noskova continues to surprise
On the women’s side, Linda Noskova, an 18-year-old Czech from qualifying, took the measure of Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, double champion at the Australian Open, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6 ). This quarter-final round match lasted almost three hours.
Winner of her first-round duel against third-seeded Daria Kasatkina, Noskova won five straight matches, including the two she had to play in the qualifying round.
In just her sixth career appearance in the main draw of a WTA tournament, Noskova will face Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, the first seed and second in the world, in the semifinals.
In the quarterfinals, Jabeur defeated Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (5), 7-5.
The other semi-final will bring together the Belarusian Ayna Sabalenka, fifth player in the world and second seed, and the Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu. They posted victories in two sets, against Marketa Vondrousova and Veronika Kudermetova, respectively.