Novak Djokovic proud of his "flawless" performance in Australian Open 4R

Novak Djokovic has thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of the field after a near-perfect fourth-round win over Alex de Minaur at the 2023 Australian Open on Monday.

The 35-year-old, in his first meeting with De Minaur, was in his element from the get go. Conceding only three games in the first two sets, the 21-time Grand Slam champion roared into a two-set lead in double quick time to take a stranglehold on the match. It was more of the same in the third set, with the Serb dropping just two games en route to his 13th quarterfinal in Melbourne and 54th overall in Grand Slams.

In his interview with Eurosport afterwards, Djokovic was pleased with his performance against De Minaur, telling Barbara Schett that it was close to 'perfection':

"It was close to. Not much to say about my performance. It was flawless really. From the beginning, I was locked in. Felt great with my leg today, the best that I felt all tournament. I just felt free to move around. I knew exactly what was expected of me on the court. Crowd and atmosphere, and De Minaur, whom I've never faced before, what kind of a gameplan needs to be."

He continued:

"I had to stay aggressive and take the time away from him. He's one of the quickest players on tour. From the beginning to the last point, felt great. I played well. I'm very happy. I always have faith in myself and my abilities. I know that I can win when I play like that."

The World No. 5 will now take on Andrey Rublev on Wednesday for a place in the last four.

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"I really wanted to win in straight sets" - Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic at the 2023 Australian Open

Novak Djokovic is a man on a mission at the Australian Open. Having won his 92nd career singles title in Adelaide two weeks ago, the Serb is now a perfect 9-0 on the season.

Speaking in his on-court interview after his fourth-round win, the Serb remarked that he "really wanted" to win in straight sets and tried to be as aggressive as possible.

"I really wanted to win in straight sets. You obviously don't know what is going to happen on the court. I thought the first four, five games was close. After breaking serve in the first set, I started feeling more free and more loose to hit through the ball and be more aggressive."

Novak Djokovic will move level with Rafael Nadal (22) atop the all-time Grand Slam title leaderboard and return to World No. 1 if he goes all the way in Melbourne this week.