Novak Djokovic advances to Australian Open quarterfinals on a walkover after Jakub Mensik withdraws

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic has had a walkover into the Australian Open quarterfinals after Jakub Mensik withdrew 24 hours ahead of their scheduled fourth-round match with an abdominal injury.

The tournament confirmed Mensik’s withdrawal late Sunday. The match had been scheduled for Rod Laver Arena on Monday night.

“After last couple of matches, I started to feel worse, and actually the problem is my abdominal muscle on the left side,” Mensik said in comments published by the tournament. “Like I said, last few matches it got significantly worse, and I think if I would step on the court tomorrow, it would be such a big risk for me for my next weeks, for my next tournaments, and actually for my health.”

No. 16-seeded Mensik beat Ethan Quinn in straight sets on Saturday. He was the second player in as many days to withdraw before a match because of an abdominal injury, with Naomi Osaka pulling out of her fourth-round match on Saturday night.

Novak Djokovic has won the Australian Open a record 10 times and is a 24-time major winner.

He became the first player to reach 400 wins in Grand Slam singles when he beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Saturday night in the third round.

Djokovic will be content with a night off as he continues to fine-tune his bid to end the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner of the major titles in the last two years.

The 38-year-old former No. 1 won his last major singles title in 2023. He reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events last year but didn’t reach a championship match.

After his third-round win here, Djokovic said two-time defending Australian Open champion Sinner and 22-year-old Alcaraz are “playing on a different level right now (but) I’m still trying to give these young guys a push for their money.”

With his first-round win over Pedro Martinez, Djokovic equaled two all-time tennis records by starting his 21st Australian Open and his 81st Grand Slam event, and he added another milestone with his 100th win at Melbourne Park.

That made him the first man to win 100 or more matches on three surfaces at the Grand Slams, with his 102 on grass at Wimbledon and 101 on clay at Roland Garros.

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