Novak Djokovic was a few games away from sweeping his opponent at the 2024 Australian Open on Sunday. The world No.1 was just glad to win any other way and match another record.
The 10-time Australian Open champion was dominant in his 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 win over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. Djokovic admitted thinking about the “triple bagel,” a term used for players winning in straight sets without yielding a game.
But he was happy for Mannarino winning some games in the third set to avoid the “triple bagel.”
“Of course, it’s tough for him (Mannarino), but also for me to be able to kind of think about that, not think about the triple bagel,” Djokovic said.
“So yeah, I was happy that got that out of the way, then kind of focused on what I need to do to close out the match,” he added.
More importantly, Djokovic reached the quarterfinals at Rod Laver Arena for a 14th time and 58th overall in a major to tie Roger Federer’s all-time Grand Slam record.
Mannarino instead saw the funny side in the one-hour and 44-minute match. The Frenchman was seen holding his fingers to his eyes imitating binoculars as he looked helplessly.
