Novak Djokovic delivered another masterclass in Melbourne on Sunday to set a much-anticipated quarter-final meeting with Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open.
Djokovic brushed past 24th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) inside Rod Laver Arena, where his two-hour, 39-minute victory means he has equalled Roger Federer’s record of reaching 15 men’s singles quarter-finals at the hard-court major. For the second match in a row, the record 10-time titlist at Melbourne Park dialled in with a rock-solid display to ease past a potentially dangerous, hard-hitting Czech opponent.
Just as he had in the third round against Tomas Machac, the 37-year-old Djokovic dominated from the baseline to overwhelm Lehecka, particularly at key moments. The Serbian produced just 21 unforced errors in the match, according to Infosys Stats, compared to his opponent’s 44.
“I felt great,” Djokovic told Eurosport after the match. “A couple of hiccups here and there, a loose game [after] I broke his serve in the third. After that I had chances to break him, but every time I had an opportunity to break him, he would serve big. Just very powerful and precise.
“Obviously a little bit of a different opponent compared to my last-round opponent, but there were quite a few similarities, with a flat backhand and quite an aggressive style. I think I handled the pressure moments well and played some great points towards the end.”
With his win, Djokovic booked a first Grand Slam meeting on a hard court with his great rival Alcaraz, who earlier led Jack Draper 7-5, 6-1 when the Briton retired from their fourth-round clash. Djokovic leads Alcaraz 4-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, although Alcaraz has won two of the pair’s three previous outings at majors.
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