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After defending champion Novak Djokovic’s victory in the five-set marathon at the Australian Open against Taylor Fritz (match report >>>), there is a big question mark about the Serbian’s physical condition.
Due to injury, Djokovic is not sure if he can face Canadian Milos Raonic. The 33-year-old suffered an abdominal muscle injury in the third set while shooting, thus skipping the mandatory press conference and questioning his approach to Raonic.
“I really don’t know,” says Djokovic. “I do not know if I will recover in less than two days. I do not know if I will be able to return to the court or not,” said the “Djoker” in an interview on the court.
Disruption due to audience moving
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His game against Fritz had to be interrupted in the fourth set to ensure the exit of the public. Officially, 22,299 fans represented the best visit of the tournament so far on Friday, but all the visitors had to leave the premises after 11:30 pm (local time). Because on Saturday a five-day lockdown went into effect in Melbourne after the Covid 19 cases reappeared. Next time in front of the fans, the first play will be in the semifinals on Thursday.
Fritz was affected in his career by catching up. He won the fourth set after the ten minute break, but then lost momentum. “It is absolutely ridiculous that you have to leave the field for ten minutes in the middle of a Grand Slam match.” That reduced his chances of winning. “That hurt because the fans put pressure on me. These are simply not the conditions for a third round of Grand Slam.” Not all fans took note of the request without comment or action.
Djokovic will face another top server with Raonic if he must compete. Fritz is convinced: “He didn’t look good in the third and fourth movements, but he did in the fifth. If he can play like that, I don’t see any reason why it won’t work.” Djokovic avoided his fourth out before the knockout stages, and this major had to exceed five sets for the eleventh time.
Thiem’s opponent benefits from the task
From an Austrian point of view, a brief appearance by former ATP final champion Grigor Dimitrov was interesting. The Bulgarian benefited 6: 0.1: 0 from the abandonment of seed number 15 Pablo Carreño Busta, who could not continue due to nausea. Dimitrov is this Sunday the last 16 opponents of Thiem, who knocked down Australian Nick Kyrgios. Thiem has a 2: 3 record against Dimitrov.
Alexander Zverev came out strong against his favorite opponent Adrian Mannarino with 6: 3.6: 3.6: 1. The French had beaten Dennis Novak of Austria in the first round in three sets. The sixth-seeded German faces the French with 6-0 victories. “I was a bit tired at the beginning so I tried to play really hard from the beginning,” Zverev said in good spirits after an impressive performance.
“I wanted them not to have to sit in the heat for so long,” he told the audience. The last remaining German tennis player in Melbourne will face Dusan Lajovic (SRB-23) on Sunday. If he and Djokovic win in the round of 16, they would face off. For the winner, he could go against Thiem in the semi-finals. The Dimitrov – Thiem winner will face Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN-20) or qualifier Aslan Karazew (RUS) in the semi-final match.
Schwartzman sensationally out
The latter caused the surprise of the eighth Argentine seed Diego Schwartzman. Thiem’s good friend from the tour had to bow to the little-known 3: 6.3: 6.3: 6 classified. The 27-year-old world No. 114. Karazew had only qualified for the main competition of a major tournament for the first time on the 10th attempt in Melbourne, he is now in the round of 16.
For Serena Williams, this is the same as usual. The 39-year-old American is still four steps away from the 24th Grand Slam title she aspires to (would equal Margaret Court’s all-time record), 6: 2. Naomi Osaka left Tunisian Ons Jabeur just five games in 6: 3.6: 2.
At the bottom of the table, Iga Swiatek and Simona Halep qualified for a direct match in the round of 16. The winner of the Polish French Open, Swiatek, gave the French Fiona Ferro 6: 4.6: 3 the disadvantage, Halep prevailed against the Russian Veronika Kudermoetowa (32) 6: 1.6: 3. The Romanian had just turned things around in the second round after a 2: 5 deficit in the third set against Australia’s Alja Tomljanovic.
Textquelle: © LAOLA1 / APA
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