By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 17, 2025
The 10-time champion swept past 26th-seeded Czech Tomas Machac to improve to 17-0 in third-round matches at the Australian Open.
Photo Source: Cameron Spencer/ Getty
After dropping a set in each of his first two matches at this Australian Open, Novak Djokovic stepped up his intensity in the third round and powered past Czech Tomas Machac in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, to book his spot in the second week in Melbourne for the 17th time.
But the evening wasn't perfect for Djokovic, who had to leave the court for a medical timeout in the second set before he polished off his 97th Australian Open win on Friday night in Rod Laver Arena.
Aside from falling behind briefly by a break in the second set, Djokovic was dominant across the two hour and 22-minute encounter, hitting 28 winners against 20 unforced errors and breaking Machac five times from 15 opportunities.
"Best match of the tournament for me," the Grand Slam king told reporters. "I didn't have too many drops in the concentration and the level of tennis. Physically struggled I think at the beginning of the second for those, whatever, 15, 20 minutes. You know, but I managed to turn things around from an early break loss in the second. Rebroke his serve, and then I was break up and held the serve all the way through."
The 24-time champion played flawlessly from the baseline as he took the racquet out of the hands of the man who had defeated him in three sets in their previous meeting.
“I am slightly surprised with the result, to beat him in straight sets… He was a break up early in the second, I struggled physically there. I tried to catch my breath, I’m not 19 anymore.”
It was the type of performance that Djokovic will need if he is to push through the draw and win a record 25th Grand Slam singles title next weekend. Having already dropped a pair of sets against unseeded opposition in his first two rounds (American Nishesh Basavareddy and Portugals Jaime Faria), the 10-time Australian Open champion put his foot down and limited his time on court ahead of his round of 16 clash with Jiri Lehecka, another rising Czech who reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne in 2023.
Djokovic sent a message of intent early in the match, earning break points in all three of his return games in the opening set and converting twice. He continued his momentum into the second set. After falling behind 2-0, Djokovic won four straight games and saved a break point while serving for the set to close out the two sets to love lead.
He broke immediately in the third set and made it stand up the rest of the way to lock down his 380th lifetime win at the majors.
More to follow…