Sydney, London, New York (22/1 – 42)
With so many seeded players already out of Australian Open 2023, Novak Djokovic proves once again that he is astonishing. Twenty four of 32 seeded players in Australian Open 2023 were already out of the tournament that reaches fourth round on January 22-23. That include the defending champion Rafael Nadal who lost in the second round to Mackenzie McDonald.
Shocking results is at full swing in this year Australian Grand Slam that among top 16 seeds, only Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev, and Holger Rune are still on contention.
For Djokovic, he continues his amazing run from last season. Since October 2022, Djoker recorded only one loss in total 27 games. In that period of time, the 35 years old veteran won Tel Aviv Open (September 26-October 2), Astana Open (October 3-9), ATP Finals (November 13-20), and Adelaide International (January 1-8).
His only loss came in the final of Paris Masters (October 31-November 6) at the hand of Holger Rune. In Australian Open 2023, Djokovic through to the fourth round after wins against Roberto Carballes Baena (6-3, 6-4, 6-0), Enzo Couacaud (6-1, 6-7 [5-7], 6-2, 6-0), and Grigor Dimitrov (7-6 [9-7], 6-3, 6-4).
The other 15 players in the round of 16 at the Australian Open 2023 have won a total of 385 grand slam matches, only 48 more than Djokovic. With Rafael Nadal already out, Djokovic has a chance to equal his rival’s all-time record of 22 Grand Slam titles.
Djokovic is also getting closer to Roger Federer’s record of 369 Grand Slam wins. All the statistics show that this could be another Djokovic’s year in Australian Open.
This Grand Slam tournament is Djokovic’s territory. He won 9 times in 17 participations.
Djokovic could already won 10 times if he was not deported prior to Australian Open 2022 for not being COVID-19 vaccinated. The Serbian was victorious in 2019, 2020, and 2021 editions.
Unfortunately, his own leg could be Djokovic’s kryptonite this time. Djokovic came into the match against Grigor Dimitrov in the third round with a hamstring injury. He won by straight sets, but struggling to run for ball throughout, even falling to the court and limping around. He required treatment through an official medical timeout after he had narrowly clinched the first set.
Djokovic admits that this injury could be a problem. “It kind of always starts well in the last few matches, including this one, and then some movement happens and then it gets worse,” Djokovic said about his hamstring injury. “Pills kick in, some hot cream and stuff. That works for a little bit, then it doesn’t, then works again.” “It’s really a roller-coaster, honestly. It requires a lot of energy that is being spent from my side mentally and physically to deal with the match and with my opponent and also with a not ideal physical state.”
Nevertheless, Djokovic is not looking for excuses. “But it is what it is. It’s kind of a circumstance that you have to accept.” “I’m just very grateful that I’m actually able to play,” he concluded.