USA's Taylor Fritz Reaches Australian Open Quarterfinals, Will Face ...

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 21: Taylor Fritz of the United States celebrates match point in their ... [+] round four singles match against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece during the 2024 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

When the Australian Open draw came out, many observers penciled in a potential quarterfinal between world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas in a rematch of last year’s final won by Djokovic.

But Taylor Fritz had his own vision for how the tournament would play out, and it didn’t involve Tsitsipas advancing.

The 6-foot-6 Fritz reached the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time with a 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over Tsitsipas, Nick Kyrgios’s pick to win the tournament, and will meet 10-time champion Djokovic next. Djokovic is 8-0 all-time against Fritz, including a straight-sets destruction in the U.S. Open quarterfinals last fall.

Against Tsitsipas, Fritz banged out 13 aces and won 73% of his first-serve points while converting 4-of-11 break point chances. He hit 50 winners against 19 unforced errors.

“I think I served well, the whole match, it kept me in it,” said No. 12 Fritz after his first victory over a top 10 player at a major. “And then at the very end when I really needed it, I feel like I just, I turned it up a level and started playing my absolute best tennis to finish it.”

Fritz is the last American man standing in Melbourne. A year ago, three American men reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne — Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda.

The win meant something different for Fritz’s girlfriend, Morgan Riddle, who said she would eat a full jar of Vegemite on Instagram Live if Fritz won the match, according to tennis writer Bastien Fachan.

Perhaps she should try a Vegemite sandwich while her man is at work.

Djokovic, meantime, was ruthless in a 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 demolition of France’s Adrian Mannarino, reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals for a 14th time.

In a rare daytime appearance on Rod Laver Arena, the 10-time Australian Open champion hit 31 winners and raced to victory in 1 hour and 44 minutes to advance to the last eight for the 58th time at a major, equaling Roger Federer’s record.

Djokovic is into the Australian Open quarterfinals for the 14th time, which ranks second on the all-time list alongside Rafael Nadal and John Newcombe. The difference is that he’s converted most of those quarterfinal runs into titles at Melbourne Park.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 21: Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action in their round four singles ... [+] match against Adrian Mannarino of France during the 2024 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Djokovic, who struggled in his first two rounds while battling illness and injury, completely dominated the 35-year-old Mannarino, who had played three five-set matches, most recently beat American Ben Shelton in the third round on Friday.

“The first two sets were some of the best sets I’ve played in a while,” said Djokovic, who is bidding for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title. “I played great from the first to the last point.”

He added, in jest: “I really wanted to lose that game in the third set because the tension was building in the stadium.

After missing a break point in the opening game, he almost never threatened Djokovic.

The Frenchman avoided a so-called triple-bagel – only five Grand Slam matches in the Open era have been won 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 – but he was only postponing the inevitable.

Djokovic said his health is improving after feeling under the weather in his earlier matches.

“Last couple of days has been really good,” he said. “It’s going in a positive direction, health-wise, tennis-wise.”

(The AP contributed reporting)