Another day, another statement performance at the Australian Open from Novak Djokovic. The second-seeded Serbian booked his place in the quarter-finals on Sunday with a convincing 6-3, 6-4 6-4 victory over No. 14 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.

Although Djokovic’s serving stats weren’t quite as dominant as his previous two matches, the seven-time champion will still have plenty to be pleased with. He won 75 per cent of his first-serve points (41/55) and converted four of eight break point chances, ripping 38 winners to remain unbeaten (4-0) in his ATP Head2Head series with Schwartzman. Djokovic is through to the quarter-finals at this event for the 11th time.

“It’s the fourth round of a Grand Slam and Diego is a quality player. He’s had a terrific tournament in the first three rounds. I knew if I gave him time, he could do a lot of damage. He’s one of the quickest players on the Tour,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “I tried to mix it up a bit, hit a few slices and bring him into the net sometimes. It worked well today.” 

Awaiting Djokovic in the next round is No. 32 seed Milos Raonic of Canada, who scored a 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 win over Marin Cilic. Djokovic holds a perfect 9-0 record against Raonic in their ATP Head2Head rivalry, including a quarter-final victory five years ago in Melbourne. 

“A quite different match than the one today. He’s one of the tallest and strongest guys physically on the Tour. He has one of the biggest serves. I’ve got to be ready for missiles coming from his side of the net,” Djokovic said. “I played him here and remember it well… One of the key elements will be how well I’m returning and how confident I am on my service games. 

“I’m glad to see him healthy and playing at a really good level again. He’s a great guy. I’ve known him for many years and he’s a good friend. We speak the same language. It’s nice to see him in the quarters.”

Little separated Djokovic and Schwartzman in the early stages of the opening set as both players traded comfortable service holds. With Schwartzman serving at 3-4, the second seed stepped up and converted the lone break point of the set by drawing a backhand error from the Argentine. A quick hold in the next game gave Djokovic the early lead.

The World No. 2 continued to build momentum by immediately breaking Schwartzman in the opening game of the second set. Putting Schwartzman on his back foot with deep backhands and then stepping in to crack forehand winners, the pressure on the Argentine resulted in an insurance break two games later when the No. 14 seed missed a routine backhand volley.

Schwartzman fought back valiantly and broke Djokovic at 3-0, ending the Serbian’s streak of consecutive service holds in this event at 35. But the deficit was too much to recover from. Djokovic took a commanding two-sets lead when Schwartzman missed another backhand volley on set point.

Unable to draw errors from Djokovic or impose himself in the baseline rallies, the Argentine began to get frustrated in the closing stages of the match. A loose service game at 2-2 gave the seven-time champion another break as Schwartzman slumped his shoulders in disappointment. Djokovic rode the slight advantage to close out play after two hours and six minutes.

Tennis players often speak about the other players — current and former — they learn from and how those lessons impact their own games and careers. But it’s not every day that a superstar from another sport enters the conversation.

Seven-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic revealed on Saturday during an off-day interview with ESPN that he has learned a lot from retired basketball legend Kobe Bryant, especially when the Serbian fell outside the Top 20 of the FedEx ATP Rankings two years ago while he was dealing with an elbow injury.

“Kobe has been one of my mentors,” Djokovic said. “I’ve had several phone conversations with him and also of course when we see each other live in the past couple of years. When I was going through the injury with my elbow and struggling to mentally and emotionally handle all of these different things that were happening to me and dropping in the Rankings and then having to work my way up, he was one of the people who was really there for me to give me some very valuable advice and guidelines to kind of believe and trust in myself, trust the process that I’ll be back.

“I’m very grateful to him for being there for me, for being very supportive. I love Kobe, who doesn’t? He’s an amazing guy and one of the best basketball players and athletes of all-time.”

Almost forgot. Me and Djokovic right before team mtg pre game! #differentanimalsamebeast pic.twitter.com/cLW6sMsZBG

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) March 4, 2013

Bryant visited the US Open last year, and at the time, in his own interview with ESPN, he reflected on one specific conversation he had with Djokovic about overcoming hurdles such as an injury and adjusting to the games of rising stars while getting older.

“He was going through a process of, ‘Physically, I’m not where I used to be. How did you adjust and change your game?’” Bryant recalled. “We talked about it for a while and having the acceptance of an athlete to say, ‘I’m not what I used to be.’

“Novak’s my guy. We have a relationship. We’ve had a relationship for a long time.”

Djokovic posted a video in December of himself training in a gym with football star Cristiano Ronaldo. Both men were leaping up in an attempt to touch their head to a piece of string as if they were going up for a header.

“He was basically teaching me how to jump. He is considered as one of the greatest football, soccer players of all-time, obviously. What I love about that guy is his work ethic and his constant need to improve. He’s such a professional,” Djokovic said. “He’s got at home all these recovery devices and things. He’s always trying to find a way how to be best in the world and make a huge mark not just in his sport, but all sports. He’s a beast, he’s an unbelievable athlete. We trained together that day, and it was a great experience.”

Ronaldo x Djokovic ?

This is some serious content ? ?

?: @Cristiano | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/yP63nW5roK

— ATP Tour (@atptour) December 27, 2019

Djokovic takes all of these interactions very seriously, seeing an opportunity to not just spend time with some of the best athletes in the world, but to also learn from them as he tries to improve his game.

“To be surrounded with the people like Kobe and Cristiano is obviously a huge pleasure and honour for me. When I’m next to them, I turn into a student. I try to have my ears wide open and listen to what they have to say and ask questions,” Djokovic said. “I’m not afraid to ask questions and they are not as well. I think that’s a great way of exchanging some experiences and things that maybe you could use in your sport, in your life, in your career. It’s just amazing to share those life stories with them.”

Djokovic faces No. 14 seed Diego Schwartzman in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Sunday.

Roger Federer was just two points from defeat in his third-round match at the Australian Open against John Millman in the early hours of Saturday morning. But the 20-time Grand Slam champion survived in a fifth-set tie-break, and now he’ll have a chance to continue his pursuit of a third title in Melbourne in four years.

The 38-year-old Swiss will next play Hungarian Marton Fucsovics for a spot in the quarter-finals. Fucsovics has never advanced past the fourth round of a major, and Federer leads their ATP Head2Head series 2-0.

“The goal for me was really trying to be focussed on my own game and take it to him and play tough,” said Federer after beating Fucsovics 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2 in the fourth round of the 2018 Australian Open. “But he hung with me for a long time. So it was a good match.”

Federer has now made the Round of 16 at Melbourne Park 18 times in his past 19 appearances, advancing to at least the semi-finals 14 times during that span. But the six-time champ certainly got a scare from Millman, who led Federer 8/4 in the fifth-set match tie-break.

“It was crazy, fun, and I couldn’t be more happy, of course,” Federer said. “Big relief.”

Most Grand Slam Round Of 16 Appearances

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic did not face such difficulties in his third-round match, ousting the speedy Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka with the loss of only seven games. But he will have to raise his level against No. 14 seed Diego Schwartzman, who has not lost a set. The Argentine has won all but one of those sets by a margin of 6-4 or greater.

Djokovic has won all three of his previous battles against Schwartzman, but their two most recent meetings have gone to a deciding set. The Argentine may stand 5’7”, but he will try to be the aggressor and step into the court against the elastic Serbian, who has played some of his best tennis at Melbourne Park.

What’s scary for the field is that Djokovic is serving lights-out at this year’s Australian Open. Through three rounds, he has hit 47 aces and won 86.8 per cent of his first-serve points.

“I ended up this tournament last year with two fantastic performances against Pouille in the semis and Rafa in the finals. Those were some of the best performances I ever had in the Grand Slam semis and finals,” Djokovic said. “I love playing on [this] court. I like the conditions. I’m starting to feel very, very comfortable and compact on the court. I’m going to try to keep that going.”

Djokovic’s Serving In Melbourne Through Three Matches – 2019 vs. 2020

There will also be an intriguing battle between two former World No. 3s. No. 32 seed Milos Raonic will play unseeded Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion.

“[Against] Marin, it’s going to be tough. He’s won two very good matches, past two and even the first one he won comfortably against a guy who played [in the Doha] final, who I lost to in the first tournament of the year,” Raonic said. “So I’m going to have to focus on my things. I think we’re both going to be trying to move the other guy around, be the one dictating. It’s going to be important for me to get ahead early in the points, take care of my serve, and be the aggressor.”

Cilic has won two of the pair’s three clashes, but they have played just once since 2013. Perhaps surprisingly only one of their seven sets has gone to a tie-break.

Although both players will try to be aggressive, it will be interesting to follow the ways in which they do. Raonic likes to work his way into the net, while Cilic prefers to build the point from the baseline. However, the Croat is coming off a grueling five-setter against the always-tough Roberto Bautista Agut, and Raonic will be fresher after upsetting reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.

“I think I will be okay for the next match, absolutely. Another great thing to it was today was nice weather to play. And then also in the Melbourne Arena it’s not too hot in there,” Cilic said after his victory. “So I’ll be okay. We were lucky with the weather there. We didn’t get too [many] crazy hot days. It was definitely easier to play with that.”

The final fourth-round match on the top half of the draw pits No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini, the Melbourne marathon man, against 2018 quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren in a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon third round, won by Sandgren in straight sets.

Fognini has followed an adventurous route to the second week of the season’s first Grand Slam, needing five sets to beat big-serving Reilly Opelka and home favourite Jordan Thompson. After a far less dramatic third-round victory against No. 22 seed Guido Pella, the Italian No. 2 will now try to exact revenge against the American, who is trying to make his second major quarter-final.

This matchup promises to be a baseline duel, with the offensive-minded Fognini looking to spray the ball around the court against World No. 100, who enjoys crafting points defensively. Sandgren already earned one big upset this fortnight against No. 8 seed Matteo Berrettini, Fognini’s countryman.

“You gear your schedule to peak in these weeks,” Sandgren said after eliminating Berrettini. “I’m getting better at that as I get older. Maybe I’m just getting older and wiser.”