MADRID, 23 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has sealed his pass to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, the first ‘Grand Slam’ of the season and which he has won nine times, after overwhelming Australian Alex de Miñaur in his round of 16 match on Monday ( 6-2, 6-1, 6-2), and will face Russian Andrey Rublev in search of the semifinals.
The Balkan, recovered from the muscular discomfort in his right leg that affected him in their previous duel, needed only two hours and three minutes to leave the last representative of the local tennis players out of the competition, which he prevented from breaking even once.
With this, he guaranteed his 25th consecutive victory in the ‘big’ ‘aussie’, equaling his best mark in the same contest, and he is only one win away from matching the best streak of the tournament in the Open Era, held by the American Andre Agassi, with 26 victories linked between 2000 and 2004.
With a Rod Laver Arena delivered to De Miñaur, ‘Nole’ gave his rival no options with a spectacular start that, after the initial 2-2, led him to win nine consecutive games (6-2, 5-0). After ending the second set in his favor as well, he started the third with an irreplaceable 4-0 for the Australian. With this, the pass to the quarterfinals was guaranteed; whenever the Serb has passed that round in Melbourne he has been proclaimed champion.
His rival in the quarterfinals will be the Russian Andrey Rublev, who was able to come back from 2-5 in the fifth and final set, saving two match points and after losing 3-7 in the final tie-break, against the Danish Holger Rune (6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9)) and who will return to the ‘Top 5’ of the ATP ranking.
Rublev, current number six in the world, took the lead in the duel after signing a break at 4-3 in the first set, before his opponent, number 10 in the world and who had reached the match without losing sets in the tournament, equalize the contention by winning the second set also with a solitary ‘break’.
The Russian regained command, breaking in the sixth game of the third set, but Rune forced the fifth by breaking his opponent’s serve twice in the fourth. The Dane got a break in the fourth game and served to win at 5-3; However, Rublev hit him back and, after resisting two match points, took the match to sudden death, where he came back from 3-7 to close, on his third chance, the match in three hours and 39 minutes of play. .
Djokovic dominates the face-to-face between the two tennis players on the circuit 2-1, with two wins in the ATP Finals. Rublev’s lone win came in the 2022 Belgrade final, lifting a title against Djokovic in his hometown.