Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Ben Shelton clinched easy straight-sets victories in their second round match of the Australian Open on the fifth day of the first Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne on January 22..
While Djokovic defeated qualifier Francesco Maestrelli 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at the Rod Laver Arena, while Shelton, also facing a qualifier in Dane Sweeny, registered a victory at the John Cain Arena with a scoreline exactly similar to Djokovic’s. The 10-time champion Djokovic defeated his Italian opponent in 2 hours and 15 minutes, showing efficient movement and clean ball strikes throughout the match, indicating good form early in the tournament.
The Serbian now stands one victory away from reaching 400 career wins at the Grand Slam level. A win against either Botic van de Zandschulp or Shang Juncheng in the next round would see him become the first player in history to achieve the milestone. While Van de Zandschulp famously upset Djokovic last year at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, Djokovic has yet to face Shang.
Competing at Melbourne Park for the 21st time, Djokovic is projected to face Musetti in the quarter-finals, with a potential semi-final clash against two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner. Musetti defeated his fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego with scores of 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, achieving his best result at the season’s first major tournament. The fifth seed generated 23 break opportunities, converting six of them. The 23-year-old Italian will now face either the 31st seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or the Czech player Tomas Machac.
