Novak Djokovic has continued his 100% winning record over Italy’s Andreas Seppi with a 6-2, 7-5,7-6(6), win in the third round of the Australian Open.
Heading into the match the world No.1 has a dominating record over Italian players on the tour. Djokovic has a 32-match winning streak against the Italians, including 11 against Seppi (not counting his exhibition win at the 2013 Hopman Cup).
Djokovic made a near perfect start as he took the first set after just 25 minutes. Djokovic is extremely familiar with Seppi’s game play after defeating him on 12 previous occasions prior to their third round match. After breaking the Italian in his first service game, Djokovic dealt him another blow when he hit a smash at the net to ease to a 4-0 lead. The Serbian’s five-game streak finally came to an end when Seppi hit a serve down the center of the court to get himself on the scoreboard. That was as good as it got for Seppi in the opener as Djokovic held the following game to love to take the set with ease.
The one-sidedness from the first set vanished at the start of the second with both players confidently holding their service games. Seppi was the first player to have a break point after a backhand from Djokovic went into the net. The break point was saved with the help of a speedy serve from the top seed as he held to level 3-3. With Seppi serving at 5-5, Djokovic increased his intensity by making Seppi endure some tiring exchanges on the Magreast Court Arena. A shot to the net handed Djokovic a chance to break and serve for the second set. The break was taken after an epic 33-shot rally finished with Seppi slamming the ball into the net once again. Serving for a two sets lead, Djokovic encountered some difficulties. On his first set point he produced his second double fault of the match. Djokovic managed to redeem himself with his second chance after once again coming out on top of a lengthy exchange between the two players.
How Djokovic got the break in the 2nd set. Via @Bola_Amarela pic.twitter.com/SC3nIESNaD
— Zézé Morais (@ZezeAM) January 22, 2016
The start of the third set was a frustrating period for Seppi and his camp. The world No.29 had two chances to break for a 3-1 lead but squandered both of them. Despite leading by two sets, Djokovic was also becoming frustrated at his inability to break the Italian. At 4-4, Djokovic was looking to grab another late break when he edged to 30-30 but could not find a way to break after some outstanding play from Seppi. The world No.29 sealed the game with a backhand winner down the line to move ahead 5-4 before the top seed responded in the following game to level 5-5. The closeness between the two men forced the set to be decided by an tiebreak.
The tiebreaker was a thrilling encounter, bringing the Melbourne crowd to life with a series of cheers. Djokovic was the first to strike after a backhand from the Italian went wide to gift the top seed an early 3-1 lead. Seppi still refused to let Djokovic go away after he produced a brilliant aggressive forehand to break back. Then an unexpected unforced error from Djokovic handed Seppi two set points, setting off an almighty cheer from the crowd. The Italian failed to convert both of his golden chances as Djokovic levelled 6-6. The defending champion then worked his way to his first match point after a shot appearing to go out landed inside the court, resulting in a Seppi error. The match was then clinched by Djokovic after a blistering serve from him was returned out by Seppi.
Beside his impressive opening set, Djokovic wasn’t at his best throughout the rest of the match. The world No.1 produced more unforced errors than winners (34-37) and converted 3/6 break points. He gave his assessment of the match after his win.
“I think I started that match very well. Great intensity, I felt I played some solid tennis for the first 30/40 mins. He stepped it up with a lot of power and depth. It was very close both sets and could’ve gone either way”. The world No.1 said.
Novak #Djokovic is very happy to move through to the 4th round of the #AusOpen https://t.co/2tLSCeSeRZ
— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2016
