Former Britain number one Tim Henman and Australia’s tennis star Nick Kyrgios were left in awe at the display of the Serbian legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open.
The first Grand Slam of the year is moving towards its business end as players are now edging closer to getting the ultimate prize. Djokovic was phenomenal in his fourth-round tie where he registered a thumping win against France’s Adrian Mannarino with a score of 6-0, 6-0, 6-3.
That performance left both Henman and Kyrgios in awe and they now believe that the 36-year-old is now the clear favourite to lift the title for the record 11th time in Melbourne.
“It was brutal, wasn’t it?,” said Henman. “The first game, Mannarino had a couple of opportunities, and then 13 games later he’s sitting down having lost all 13 so that’s a rough day at the office. “He’s been playing well, beat Ben Shelton in the previous round, but it just goes to show the gulf in class of Djokovic at the top of the game.”
“I mean, look, I haven’t given my ‘best effort’ at times, but with my serve it allows me to get into games pretty easy," said Kyrgios. "Mannarino didn’t play that bad at all, he’s obviously played some pretty gruelling five-set matches, he’s nearly 36 years old, he’s probably really tired and goes up against the greatest test in men's tennis.
95.3 - At 95.3%, Novak Djokovic is one of five males in the Open Era to have a GS match win rate of 75% or higher after turning 35 along with his next opponent, Adrian Mannarino (75%) - min. 5 matches. Quirk. #AusOpen | @AustralianOpen @DjokerNole @AdrianMannarino @atptour
“Look, I think all the questions have been answered with Novak. The first couple of rounds he’s been struggling, now he’s beaten players like Mannarino... I think Novak for me is now the clear favourite for the AO.”
Djokovic, who is often regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s singles tennis having won 24 Grand Slam titles, is now set to face America’s Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
