Djokovic Fires Warning To Australian Open Title Rivals
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic fired a warning to his Australian Open title rivals on Monday night with an awesome performance on Rod Laver Arena.
The eight-time champion experienced no let-downs in his quality of play after he swept past the experienced Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in just one hour and 31 minutes.
“It feels great to play in front of big crowd,” said Djokovic, in an on-court interview. “We hope the circumstances will pass soon and I’m really glad to see a lot of people here. I have an ongoing love affair with Rod Laver Arena, and I hope to have these kind of performances again. I’m lucky to have a lot of good memories on this court.”
Djokovic is bidding to become the second man in history to win at least nine major championship crowns at the same tournament, after Rafael Nadal, who has won 13 Roland Garros titles.
Djokovic, who hit 41 winners, will next face American Frances Tiafoe, who knocked out Great Ocean Road Open runner-up Stefano Travaglia 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 51 minutes.
Djokovic bookended the 32-minute first set with service breaks, then ran through a 22-minute second set, hitting 11 winners from 25 points, with no unforced errors. Chardy ended a seven-game losing streak from 3-4 in the first set with a service hold in the sixth game of the second set.
The 33-year-old, who represented 2020 champion Serbia at the ATP Cup last week, playing each of the Group A ties on Rod Laver Arena, didn’t give Chardy an opportunity to get into the match.
Djokovic broke in the first game of the third set, then clinched another break with a superb, angled backhand winner off a Chardy drop shot. He closed out with his ninth ace, having lost just nine of his first-service points.