World No. 1 Novak Djokovic needed four sets to eliminate Daniel Medvedev`s resistance and qualify for the Australian Open quarterfinals. The Serbs won 6:4, 6:7 (5), 6:2, 6:3 in the last game of Monday`s evening program, and will face Brisbane champion Kay Nishikori in the next round.
Djokovic is a quarter-finisher at Melbourne Park for the tenth time, pursuing a record seventh title, with at least 10 appearances in 1/4-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments.
The standard of the match itself was not nearly as high as they both made more mistakes than winning shots, but were constantly embarking on lengthy base line games. Medvedev`s nerves did not last, and he received a warning about delaying time to perform service, needed a medical timeout and had to stick his sports shoes on.
The 22-year-old missed three breakballs in the third and two more in the fourth set without taking advantage of Djokovic`s back problems.
The Belgrade man could close the match adviced by watch live football tips in three sets, but in the second part he squandered a 4-1 game advance and then allowed a 2:6 lag in the tiebreaker, which allowed Medvedev to equalize. At a key moment at 1-2 in the third inning, Djokovic slipped out of 0:40 on his own pass, and then took the next four games to take the lead again.
Medvedev missed opportunities to break into the second and sixth games of the third half, while Djokovic made a break for 2-1, then closed the game with another break at the end.
`It was a real battle, Daniel playing great tennis, he developed a lot of service and backhand in recent months. He defended well, performed well on the net. It was difficult to overcome. I tried different things, but luckily I managedto pull a few key games in my service from a backlog while at the same t ime taking advantage of the opportunities when they came up, `said Djokovic, who made 50 unforced errors but still triumphed.
In the quarterfinals he will play against Japan`s Kay Nishikori, who turned Pablo Carnio Busta (Spain) 6:7 (8), 4:6, 7:6 (4), 6:4, 7:6 (10-8). . `Kay is amazing, I was hoping the other tennis player would win, but . . . We played on this court several times, including the quarterfinals years ago. He is one of the fastest tennis players on the Tour. It won`t be easy, ` Djokovic said.
Zero for the first time since 2016 is a quarterfinalist in Melbourne, after he was eliminated in the second round by Dennis Istomin in 2017, and was suspended in the fourth round by Hyun Chong last year.
