Djokovic advances at Adelaide

The 21-time Grand Slam winner, who is preparing for a shot at a 10th Australian Open title, will face third-seeded Daniil Medvedev on Saturday.

January 6, 2023 - 3:07 PM

Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates his match point against Canada's Milos Raonic during their men's singles match on day seven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia on Feb. 14, 2021. A new global coronavirus flashpoint occurred this week when Djokovic — a vocal vaccine-mandate critic — was denied entry to Australia. (William West/AFP/Getty Images/TNS) Photo by TNS

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic beat Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4 at the Adelaide International on Friday to set up a semifinal with Daniil Medvedev.

The combined ATP-WTA event is a warmup for this year’s Australian Open, which the top-seeded Djokovic missed last year after being barred from the country because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Early on he was a better player. He was dictating,” said 35-year-old Serb Djokovic after improving to 8-0 against his Canadian opponent. “(Then) I started finding my serve and my groove on the…

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