Novak Djokovic advances to the third round of the Australian Open, defeating Portuguese Jaime Faria 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-2 – and in the next round he will play against Czech Tomas Machac.
Djokovic made history in this match as the player with the most Grand Slam match wins, surpassing Roger Federer. He also won all 28 matches against qualifiers in Grand Slams, including seven now at the Australian Open. He will play in the third round of the tournament in Melbourne for the 17th time in his career.
The way the first set started, everyone at Rod Laver Arena thought they would spend very little time in the stands. Nole played excellently, made one break, then immediately another, and won that part of the game 6-1. Where he left off in the first set, he continued in the second, but only for a short time. Djokovic took a 2-1 lead, with a break, and then… Then Faria turned on, and Nole seemed to stop.
It was as if someone had pressed the “off” button. From 2-1, nothing went Novak’s way. And Faria was putting everything in! Every line he could, he hit. He returned the break and then made another one.
“Speak up a bit,” Novak told his box.
They listened to him, but Djokovic wanted more:
“Faster, faster! Andy, look!”
Everyone in the box was their usual calm selves, and Novak needed them to give him some energy. On the other side, Faria played like he was in a trance. Nole managed to break back, equalize, take the set to a tie-break, and in it – the Portuguese continued to dance.
At 5-5, Djokovic asked Maria Cicak, the chair umpire in this match, to turn off the lights. Maybe he unnecessarily lost the energy he needed against the 21-year-old Portuguese.
His condition was met, and he continued. After winning the set, Faria went to the locker room to calm down, and that was a great move because when he returned to the court, he played in the same rhythm.
“What is he hitting, damn it! Unbelievable!” – even Nole couldn’t believe what was happening on the court.
We all know that Djokovic is the best returner in the world, but what an answer Faria had to his returns.
Players in the top 20 would envy him. He only started to weaken in the middle of the third set. The lines he was hitting were no longer so clean and the balls were ending up in the net.
“Is it possible that it didn’t pass? Finally!” – and Nole also spoke up.
From that moment on, Djokovic started serving better, and then he easily won games on his serve, and Faria started to decline. When he won the third set, the fourth was just a formality.
Novak made a break right at the start and that was the beginning of the end for Faria. And Djokovic stopped thinking about everything that had happened, and just played his game.
What is clear as day is that he will have to play much better against Machac.
Source: Sportal Photo: Getty Images