Novak Djokovic booked his place in a record-equalling 58th Grand Slam quarter-final with a ruthless thrashing of Adrian Mannarino at the Australian Open on Sunday.
The Serbian ran out a 6-0 6-0 6-3 winner at Melbourne Park to continue his march towards a possible 25th Grand Slam title, which would see him move out on his own in the all-time list for both male and female players.
The one-sided victory saw him draw level with Roger Federer as the players with the most Grand Slam quarters in history, and there was almost another chapter written into the record books as Djokovic threatened to become the first player since 1993 to produce a triple bagel in the men's singles of a Grand Slam.
The 36-year-old reeled off the first 13 games and looked like he may become the first player to ever win 6-0 6-0 6-0 at the Australian Open, until a relieved Mannarino finally got on the board in the second game of the third set.
10/10 from the 10-time champion 🌟@DjokerNole • #AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/Tg2NxgmMBm
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2024
The Frenchman was dispatched within one hour and 44 minutes, though, as Djokovic set up a quarter-final showdown with 12th seed Taylor Fritz.
The American secured his place in the last eight of the Australian Open for the first time by overcoming last year's runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets.
Fourth seed Jannik Sinner also reached the quarter-final by earning a straight-sets victory over Karen Khachanov, setting up a showdown with Andrey Rublev.
Rublev came through a thrilling five-setter with home favourite Alex de Minaur in a match that lasted until just before midnight local time in Melbourne, winning 6-4 [5]6-7 [4]6-7 6-3 6-0 in the end.
He always had the will, he just had to find the way!@AndreyRublev97 comes from a set down to rattle home and into the last eight.
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2024
The No.5 seed defeats Alex De Minaur 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0#AusOpen • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/h0dBeEmici
In the women's event, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka continued her quest to become the first player to retain the women's singles title since 2013 with a 6-3 6-2 triumph over Amanda Anisimova.
Sabalenka will take on Barbora Krejcikova in the quarter-finals after the Czech came from a set down to end 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva's memorable Melbourne run with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 win.
Reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff became the youngest player to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals since 2008 by dispatching of Magdalena Frech 6-1 6-2.
The 19-year-old only needed just over an hour to see off the Polish underdog and set up a meeting with Marta Kostyuk, who produced a similarly dominant victory over Maria Timofeeva.
Barney Corkhill
