Novak Djokovic takes just 85 minutes to complete victory, winning 93 per cent of her first serves as well as hitting 40 winners
Friday 24 January 2020 09:02, UK
Novak Djokovic stayed on course for his eighth Australian Open title by reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the 50th time in his career.
The defending champion hit 17 aces and lost just eight points on serve during the match, seven of them in the third set as he eased to victory over Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3 6-2 6-2.
In the fourth round, Djokovic will face 14th seed Diego Schwartzman, who beat Dusan Lajovic 6-2 6-3 7-6 (9-7).
"Definitely one of the best serving matches I've had lately, inspired by my coach Goran Ivanisevic," Djokovic said.
"There are a lot of technical details you can talk about, but sometimes less is more. It's all about the rhythm and balance. So far, it's been working really well."
The victory on Friday was the 21st straight win for Djokovic at Grand Slams against left-handed players since the 32-year-old Serb lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2014 French Open final.
In ominous signs for the other title contenders in the second week at Melbourne Park, Djokovic said there was still room for improvement for him.
That's probably as best as my serve can actually be in the moment, which I'm very pleased with.
"You can always improve. I think that's the beauty of the sport," he said. "I think in terms of service rhythm that I have at the moment, winning percentage from the first serves is really high.
"So that's probably as best as my serve can actually be in the moment, which I'm very pleased with. It allows me to go quicker through my games and win more dominantly my service games and put additional pressure on the service games of my opponents.
"That's definitely something that's useful going towards the second week of the Grand Slam. I love playing on the court. I like the conditions. I'm starting to feel very, very comfortable and compact on the court. I'm going to try to keep that going."
A determined Marin Cilic overcame a slow start and a mid-match blip to send ninth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut packing with a 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-0 5-7 6-3.
American Tommy Paul, who stunned 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the second round, failed to get past Marton Fucsovics, losing 6-1 6-1 6-4 to the Hungarian.
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