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By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, January 28, 2015

 
Novak Djokovic Australian Open 2015 Quarterfinals

Novak Djokovic had it all working during his straight-sets thrashing of Milos Raonic on Day 10 in Melbourne.

Photo Source: Corleve

Though hard-serving Canadian Milos Raonic tried to deny him rhythm, Novak Djokovic didn’t miss a beat during his 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2 victory on Wednesday night in Melbourne. The world No. 1 sliced and diced his way to a comfortable quarterfinal victory on Wednesday, turning in a lights-out serving performance that drew lofty comparisons to his coach Boris Becker.

Video: Breaking Down Djokovic's World-Class Return

“It feels like I’m Boris Becker on the court,” said Djokovic. “Now I know how he feels when he plays.”

Djokovic has only dropped serve once in his five matches at this year’s Australian Open, and he never let the 6’5” Raonic get a sniff at his serve during their two hour contest.

The Serb didn’t face a break point and only lost 12 points on serve for the whole match. He got better as the contest progressed, dropping only two points on serve in a one-sided third set.

Things were more difficult on return, but Djokovic and his vaunted return game were more than up to the task.

He earned 11 break points on the evening, and though Raonic swatted back his first five opportunities with big serves, Djokovic made good on three of his last six opportunities in the final two sets to seize control.

“Some games I had to just let it go and wait for the opportunities, and when they are presented obviously try to use them,” he said.

It took Djokovic a while to crack the code. He was 0 for 4 in break points in the first set and headed to the tiebreaker to try his luck. After trading mini-breaks, the Serb took control of the first-set tiebreaker when Raonic missed wide with an inside-out forehand attempt to fall behind 4-3. It was one of 36 unforced errors for the 8th seed on the evening, and a crucial one.

After closing the breaker out, the Serb broke in the opening game of the second set and never looked back. Leading two sets to love in the third set he broke in consecutive games to open up an invincible 5-1 lead as the finish line drew near.

Notes:

Djokovic’s win is his fifth in five career meetings with Raonic and his 48th win in 54 Australian Open matches. He moves into a tie with Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi for all-time wins at the event, as well as edging closer to Agassi on the all-time Grand Slam semifinal list with 25 (Agassi has 26).

For the third straight year, Djokovic will meet Swiss Stan Wawrinka at the Australian Open. On each of the last two occasions, the two played instant classics, with Djokovic winning 12-10 in the fifth set in 2013 and Wawrinka winning 9-7 in the fifth set last year. They also met at the 2013 US Open with Djokovic winning 6-4 in the fifth set.

“I'm ready for the battle,” Djokovic said. “When we played last three Grand Slam matches they were the finals stages of a Grand Slam, semifinals, quarterfinals. Grand Slams are the tournaments where you want to perform your best. I'm sure we both are very much aware of that fact, and it's why we get to play on a high level against each other and we push each other to the limit in a way. It's a very physical battle, as well. But I haven't had too many long matches during this tournament. I'm ready for it. I'm going to practice tomorrow, do a little preparation for that match, try to analyze his game and what I need to do in order to win."

 

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