Novak Djokovic dispatches Taylor Harry Fritz 7-6(1) 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2 in the 3rd round in Melbourne on Friday. The epic lasted 3 hours and 25 minutes. Djokovic will fight against Milos Raonic in the 4th round. This match was quite special since Novak got injured with a tear to his abdomen mid-match and he was pretty serious about retiring. Then he found the solution as the pain went away in the decider.
No crowd
In addition, since Melbourne entered in lockdown from midnight, the match had to be suspended to allow the crowd to leave the premises.
Djokovic added to his prize money $ 105,000 after winning this match. He has won already $ 320,000 after this win. If he wins the next match, the Serbian will add $ 205,000 to his earnings to get in total $ 525,000 in total. The Serbian won this tournament 8 times in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020. Here you can see his history at this event.
Djokovic was glad about the match. He commented:
“This is definitely one of the most special wins in my life, It does not matter what round it is, against who it is. Under these kinds of circumstances, to pull this through is definitely something I will remember forever.”
Highlights Novak Djokovic vs. Taylor Harry Fritz Australian Open – Melbourne
Djokovic’s Interview
Stats: aces, double faults, breaks, winners
At the end of the match, Djokovic scored 157 points vs. Fritz’s 155.
Djokovic
Djokovic served extremely well to win 75% of the points (79/105) behind his first serve, and he won 50% points (27/54) on his second serve. Novak fired 15 aces and he committed 5 double faults. Novak won this match even if he had some problems converting his break points as he converted only 44% (4/9) of the procured opportunities.
Fritz
On the other side, Fritz wasn’t that great in converting his break points (only 25% – 3/12). That was one of the key issues for his demise.
After this match, the head to head between Djokovic and Fritz is 3-0 for Novak.
Draw and next match H2H: Novak Djokovic vs. Milos Raonic – stats
Djokovic will fight against Raonic in the 4th round.
This will be the 12th time that Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic play each other. The head to head is 11-0 for Djokovic (see full H2H stats), 5-0 on hard.
The last time that they squared off, Djokovic won 7-65 6-4 6-2 in the quarter in Australian Open back in 2015.
Live score progression and stats
Djokovic won the set after he broke Taylor Harry in the 4th (3-1) game. Fritz tried to stage a comeback breaking in the 9th (5-4) game. Yet, the Serbian didn’t make any concession anymore to finally clinch the set at the following breaker at 1.
Tiebreak
The Serbian won 4 minibreaks in the 2nd (2-0), 3rd (3-0), 6th (6-0) and 8th (7-1) point.
This was the tiebreak sequence: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0, 6-0, 6-1, 7-c
Novak was clinical in converting the only break point that he conquered in the 4th game (2-1 30-40). On the other side, Taylor Harry converted 25% of his break points (1/4). He had his opportunities in the 1st (0-0 30-40), the 6th (2-4 15-40 and 30-40) and the 8th game (3-5 30-40).
They played 80 points. The set was a huge battle since finally Novak won just 2 more points than the American (41-39). The Serbian lost 15 points on serve (27-15). on the other side of the net, the American conceded 14 points on serve (24-14).
Djokovic had a running start at the beginning of the set after breaking Raonic in the 1st game (1-0). That break resulted decisive for Djokovic to win the set (6-4) as no one dropped a serve anymore.
The Serbian converted 20% of his break points (1/5). He had 5 break points opportunities in the 1st (0-0 30-40), the 5th (3-1 15-40 and 30-40) and the 7th game (4-2 30-40 and 40-A). On the other side, Taylor Harry was unable to convert any of his 2 break points. He had 2 break points opportunities in the 8th game (3-4 15-40 and 30-40).
They played 71 points. Djokovic was the one to win the set after conquering 9 points more than the American (40-31). Novak lost 8 points on serve (23-8). on the other side of the net, Fritz conceded 17 points on serve (23-17).
Both players managed to hold their service games for the entire set. The only difference was just 1 break that Taylor Harry clinched in the 8th game (5-3) before finally winning the set (6-3).
Novak was not able to offer any resistance in the last 4 games of the set when the score went from 3-3 to 6-3.
They contested 51 points. Fritz was the winner of the set after clinching 13 points more than the Serbian (32-19). Fritz was extremely solid on serve to concede just 4 points (20-4). On the other side, Novak conceded 11 points on serve (14-11).
Similarly to the 3rd set, the set was even with both players refusing to concede anything to the opposition on serve. Eventually, the only discrepancy was one break that the American conquered in the 3rd game (2-1) just before eventually winning the set (6-4).
Taylor Harry was perfect in converting all his break points in the 1st (0-0 30-40) and the 3rd game (1-1 30-40 and 40-A). On the other side, Taylor Harry didn’t concede a single break point during this set.
They played 59 points. Taylor Harry was the winner of the set after clinching 9 more points than Djokovic (34-25). Fritz was extremely solid on serve to concede just 3 points (20-3). On the other side, Djokovic conceded 14 points on serve (22-14).
The Serbian in this set was much more effective than the American and without too much hustling he won 6-2 after breaking Taylor Harry in the 6th (4-2) and in the 8th (6-2) game.
Fritz was dominated in the last 4 games of the set when the score went from 2-2 to 6-2.
Novak converted 66% of his break points (2/3). He had 3 break points opportunities in the 6th (3-2 30-40) and the 8th game (5-2 40-A and 40-A). On the other side, Djokovic didn’t concede a single break point during this set.
They contested 49 points. The Serbian conquered the set after winning 9 more points than Taylor Harry (29-20). Djokovic lost 5 points on serve (17-5). Regarding the other side of the net, Taylor Harry conceded 12 points on serve (15-12).
Tennis Scores in Melbourne
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- Grigor DimitrovDimitrov – Pablo Carreno-BustaCarreno-Busta (6-0 1-0 ret.) – Stats and score progression
- Novak DjokovicDjokovic – Taylor Harry FritzHarry Fritz (7-61 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2) – Stats and score progression
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