Defending champion Novak Djokovic has said he is gaining in confidence after each round following his latest victory at the Australian Open on Sunday.
The second seed dropped serve only once during his 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, win over Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman. A world No.14 player who had taken at least one set off him if their two previous meetings on the tour. Nevertheless, in their latest clash Djokovic was in full control throughout the majority of the match. Blasting 34 winners and eight aces past Schwartzman en route to the last eight.
Djokovic is now through to the quarter-finals in Melbourne for the 11th time in his career. Since his roller coaster clash with Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round, he has only been broken once in his past three matches. A much needed confidence boost for him and his bid for a historic eighth singles title at the event.
“It feels great. I had a fantastic couple of matches in a row. I felt more confident going through the ball, hitting serves really well.” Said Djokovic.
“Today was a good test because Diego was in form, he hasn’t dropped a set in three rounds. Obviously he can be a very dangerous opponent from the baseline if you give him time. I knew that. I stepped out on the court with a clear game plan what I need to do. I think I kept things pretty much in control in all three sets. Maybe could have finished the match a bit earlier.’
“All in all, it was a very solid performance.”
It will be a very different challenge for the Serbian in the quarter-finals. Awaiting him will be Canada’s Milos Raonic. A player renowned for their blistering serve. Raonic produced 35 aces during his 6-4, 6-3, 7-5, win over Marin Cilic. The 32nd seed has been ranked as high as third in the world rankings, but has suffered various injury setbacks in recent months.
“A quite different match than the one today. He’s one of the tallest and strongest guys physically on the Tour. He has one of the biggest serves. I’ve got to be ready for missiles coming from his side of the net,” Djokovic said. “I played him here and remember it well… One of the key elements will be how well I’m returning and how confident I am on my service games.
“I’m glad to see him healthy and playing at a really good level again. He’s a great guy. I’ve known him for many years and he’s a good friend. We speak the same language. It’s nice to see him in the quarters.”
On paper, the 16-time grand slam champion is expected to prevail in their upcoming encounter on Tuesday. He has a perfect 9-0 head-to-head record against Raonic and only dropped a set against him in two of their meetings. Furthermore, the Canadian hasn’t beaten a top five player since Alexander Zverev at the same tournament 12 months ago.
Despite his one-sided record, 32-year-old Djokovic is sticking to the cautious side. Branding his upcoming rival a better mover on the court than fellow fast servers John Isner and Ivo Karlovic. However, he believes he does have the edge in another way.
“I feel like Raonic moves better than Isner and Karlovic. He’s not as tall as these two guys. They’re 6’10” or something, 2 meters 10. They’re the tallest players to ever play tennis.” He explained.
“But I feel like maybe you could read his serve better than Isner and Karlovic. I don’t want to say it’s slightly slower, but just a little bit of a different toss, different technique. You can probably get some looks at second serves or breakpoints and stuff like this maybe a bit more than the other two guys.”
Speaking to reporters ahead of the showdown, Raonic himself echoed similar comments to Djokovic. Hoping to end his losing record, the former Wimbledon finalist is believes a more aggressive approach to the match could pay off for him.
“I’m going to have to serve well clearly, and then I think I’m going to have to get my return at a high percentage, make him play a lot of those points, and then try to be efficient on my service games.” Raonic previewed.
“I think we play quite opposite from each other, and he’s done a good job in the past neutralizing my serve. So I have really got to focus on my things well and be the one dictating.”
When reaching the quarter-final stages of the Australian Open, Djokovic has won seven out of his 10 matches. His only losses were to Andy Roddick (retire during match in 2009), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2010) and Stan Wawrinka (2014).
