Australian Open: ailing Novak Djokovic struggles into the round of 16, Felix Auger-Aliassime wins the Canadian duel
Novak Djokovic is in the round of 16 of the Australian Open after a strange performance, the Serb struggled to a five-set success against Taylor Fritz . Also in round four is Felix Auger-Aliassime , who surprisingly won the Canadian duel with Denis Shapovalov .
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Feb 12, 2021, 02:23 pm
Parallel to the big highlight of today's tennis day at the Australian Open - the five-sentence thriller between Dominic Thiem and Nick Kyrgios - there was a match-up in the Margaret Court Arena with great potential for big hits. Denis Shapovalov was supposed to meet his compatriot Felix Auger-Aliassime in round three to find out who should face surprise Aslan Karatsev in the round of 16.
It was to be a bitter tennis evening for the left-hander Denis Shapovalov. Both in the first and in the second round, the Canadian went ahead with a break, both times the world number 12 had to. the immediate rebreak - and a little later also accept the loss of the set. So it was youngster Felix Auger-Aliassime who should secure the ticket for the round of 16. It is the second Grand Slam quarter-finals for the 20-year-old, last year he failed in this round at the US Open to Dominic Thiem.
Shapovalov with an orgy of mistakes
Denis Shapovalov, who is known for his risk-taking game, acted too error-prone for long stretches of the game, in the end made a whopping 37 mistakes without need - with just 19 winning strokes. This statistic looks much more balanced with his compatriot Auger-Aliassime, in which 31 winning strokes are offset by 29 unforced errors.
In principle, the current number one in the world, Novak Djokovic, is far safer when it comes to aligning the game. The Serbian, who went into his third round duel with Taylor Fritz as a huge favorite, caused some question marks on Friday evening, Australian time. Although the industry leader secured the first two sentences, the way in which the Serbs succeeded was quite remarkable.
Djokovic with "strange" performance
Because accompanied by unusual emotional outbursts, once the 17-time Grand Slam champion went into the air on the bench, then the world number one cheered over-theatrically on one point to the advantage, it was mainly physical complaints that seemed to plague the world number one. It was due to Taylor Fritz, who acted a little too harmlessly in the decisive phases, that Djokovic was in the lead after just under two hours with 2.0 sets.
But Fritz sensed his chance. The American fought self-sacrificingly, stayed cool in the tight moments and got the all-important break advantage in the eighth game of the third set - and served moments later to zero. In the meantime it almost looked as if Novak Djokovic was "giving up" this game. The next "strange" situation of this match was to follow a little later: The game was interrupted because the stands had to empty. A tough lockdown reigns in Melbourne from midnight - the tiers will remain empty for at least the next five days.
Djokovic has to go into a fifth set
Although the Serb fought his way back into the game, the physical symptoms did not subside. Taylor Fritz kept the ball cleverly in the game, served well and took the break in the middle of the fourth set, which the American was able to transport to equalize the set. The world number 31. So sent this match completely surprisingly into a fifth decision-making round.
In this one it was initially the US who should have control of the match. It was accordingly surprising when Djokovic grabbed Fritz's service game in the sixth game of the fifth set and pulled away with a break. That should be enough for the industry leader, after just under three and a half hours Djokovic broke out to 7: 6 (1), 6: 4, 3: 6, 4: 6 and 6: 2 success. A success that the Serb acknowledged with a primal scream.
In the second round, Djokovic meets Milos Raonic, who defeated Marton Fucsovics in four sets. In the quarter-finals there could be a hit against Alexander Zverev.
laver arena