Novak Djokovic exclusive: Serbian on ‘much better’ Australian Open win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Djokovic struggled to hit top gear in his first two matches in Melbourne, dropping sets to Dino Prizmic and Alexei Popyrin respectively, but this seemed to be a different version of the Serbian: more dominant, with fewer errors and seemingly also fewer injury and illness concerns.
The victory set the 36-year-old up for a fourth-round tie with Adrian Mannarino, who dealt a surprise defeat to Ben Shelton.
“I really think that I played my best tennis so far in the tournament,” Djokovic told Eurosport’s Barbara Schett. “Obviously still finding my groove, but this was much better than the first two rounds.
“Etcheverry is in form, he won quite comfortably against two great players – Andy Murray and Gael Monfils – in straight sets, I watched him play.
“I do have a positive score with him but I obviously didn’t maybe play my best tennis coming into the match but tonight I found my rhythm and I’m really pleased with the performance.”
Djokovic largely kept his Argentinian opponent at arms length in the first two sets before being tested in the third, which went to a tie-break after some fine serving from Etcheverry.
But the 24-time major champion came out on top with some clutch plays – met with astonishment at times by Nick Kyrgios in the Eurosport commentary box – to seal his progression.
‘No! Insane!’ – Kyrgios can’t believe the point he just watched with Djokovic
“I always demand the highest of myself, so I can always play better,” Djokovic continued. “But I’ve also got to see things in a positive way, this is a higher level than it was in the first two rounds. I did wake up well today, I thought I’ve done everything I possibly can.
“[On the] practice court yesterday also we worked on a few things, so I’m really glad it is working out so far, let’s see in the next round.”
‘Tennis from another planet’ – Djokovic on top in the third set tie-break
Much has been made of Djokovic’s “special relationship” with a tree in the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, which he revealed he will again visit in the coming days.
“[I’ve not been] in the last three or four days, so I have to do that tomorrow,” he added.
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