Alex de Minaur says Novak Djokovic is 'on another level' and will 'definitely' win Australian Open in this form
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Updated 23/01/2023 at 13:07 GMT
Novak Djokovic eased into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a straight-sets victory over home hope Alex de Minaur. Djokovic controlled the match from start to finish and De Minaur said afterwards that it was an almost "faultless" display from the former world No. 1. De Minaur also assessed Djokovic's chances of winning another title in Melbourne and his hamstring injury.
Australian Open highlights - Djokovic cruises past De Minaur
Alex de Minaur said Novak Djokovic was on “another level” to him during a one-sided Australian Open fourth-round clash and that if he continues in the same way he will “definitely” win the title.
Djokovic looked untroubled by his much-spoken-about hamstring injury as he outclassed home hope De Minaur in straight sets.
De Minaur managed just five games and only hit nine winners as he struggled to find ways to hurt the nine-time champion.
“At times your opponent makes it pretty difficult to execute a plan and I think today that was what he was doing,” said world No. 24 De Minaur.
“It felt like he was on another level to mine, I was just trying to hang in there and at the start I was very solid and then he loosened up even more and just started swinging and it felt like he could hit winners from every place in the court, so I didn’t really know what to do out there.
“What I experienced today was probably Novak very close to his best I would say, and to me, if that’s the level then he’s definitely the guy that’s going to take the title.”
Much of the talk around Djokovic over the last week has been over his leg injury and whether it will derail his chances of a 10th Australian Open title.
His upper leg was heavily strapped again but it didn't appear a problem as Djokovic produced his finest display of the tournament to ease through.
Djokovic afterwards described his game as "almost flawless", while De Minaur said that he felt his opponent was “moving well”.
“It just felt like constant pressure today,” he added.
“Every service game I had I wasn’t getting free points. It felt like an uphill battle from the start and I was never able to get my teeth into the match and make it tough for him or bring those pressure moments in situations.
“I tried to be aggressive, to get him moving, test where he is at. Didn’t get much joy out of it.
“Whenever I got him on the move he was pretty good, he hit a quality shot from end range, which got him back into the front seat of a point, and then he made it quite tough for me to be aggressive by hitting it hard and flat and deep, not giving me a lot of chances to attack.
“He was just too good in all aspects...it seemed like I played a pretty faultless Novak."
Pressed on Djokovic’s injury and whether he noticed it hindering his opponent at all, De Minaur said: “You tell me how you thought he looked out there.”
Djokovic next faces fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals.
Rublev saved two match points to come through and beat Holger Rune in a thriller earlier on Monday.
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