Novak Djokovic (ranked seventh, Serbia), the "emperor" of tennis, has regained his perfect performance at the Australian Open, continuing his challenge of history. At the third round of the championship held in Melbourne on Thursday, Djokovic defeated Tomasz Mahachi (ranked 25th, Czech Republic) 3-0 (6-1 6-4 6-4), confirming his advance to the round of 16.
Djokovic, who was unstable in the first and second rounds of the championship, lost one set each to players in the top 100 and displayed overwhelming performance against relatively high ranking Mahachi on the day. He showed superiority in all records including serve ace (9-4), Wiener (28-25), undefeated error (20-35), and overall points earned (96-70).
The 37-year-old Djokovic has only four wins left to win. If he wins, he will achieve two records at the same time. He could break the record of most wins (24 times) in a major competition that he shares with Margaret Court of Australia, and set a new milestone of becoming the oldest player to win a single major competition since 1968, when professional players were allowed to participate in a major competition. 메이저사이트
Djokovic, who will face Lehetska (29th, Czech Republic) in the round of 16, had a 3-0 victory at the United Cup last year. Attention is focusing on the upcoming showdown with Carlos Alcaras of Spain, who is expected to advance to the quarterfinals. Alcaras, dubbed the "next Emperor" of Portugal, defeated Nunu Borges (33rd, 6-2 6-4 6-7 6-2) to advance to the round of 16.
If Alcaras, who won four major championships including the French Open and Wimbledon last year, and Djokovic, the "King of Tennis," face off in the quarterfinals, it will be a watershed moment for a generational change. Alcaras will face off against the winner of the Jack Drapper-Alexander Bueckic match in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka (51, Japan), a two-time Australian Open champion, withdrew from the women's singles due to an abdominal injury in the third round. She was unable to continue her match after losing 6-7 in the first set to Belinda Belcic (294th, Switzerland) who returned after giving birth in November 2023. Bencic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, will enjoy the joy of advancing to the quarterfinals of a major tournament for the first time since her return to childbirth.