Novak Djokovic had to dig deep at times yesterday against French qualifier Enzo Couacaud, but rolled into the third round of the men’s singles with a 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-0 win to continue his quest for a 10th Australian Open crown and a 22nd Grand Slam title, while Taiwan’s Chan sisters both advanced to the second round of the women’s doubles in Melbourne.
The Serbian looked at his imperious best as he eased through the opening set, but hit a roadblock in the 74-minute second set when world No. 191 Couacaud upped his pace and intensity to level up the contest in a tiebreak.
Fourth seed Djokovic changed his shirt and brought in the heavy artillery to whip through the final two sets, setting up a third-round date with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
Photo: Reuters
“Enzo deserves credit for the fight, he played some great tennis, especially in the second set, he deservedly pushed the match into the fourth set,” said Djokovic, who hit 63 winners in the contest on Rod Laver Arena. “I managed to respond well in the third and especially in the fourth ... and yes, let’s keep it going.”
Dimitrov has won only one of his 10 matches against Djokovic and, as the Serbian was quick to point out, has never met him at Melbourne Park, where the former world No. 1 is unbeaten since 2018.
“I know him very well, we are friends, Balkan brothers. May the best player win,” Djokovic said.
Djokovic’s half of the draw opened up for him earlier in the day when second seed Casper Ruud was knocked out. That followed Wednesday’s exit of top seed Rafael Nadal, who already holds 22 Grand Slam singles titles.
It could turn out that Djokovic’s left thigh, again heavily strapped against a hamstring niggle, would be the biggest obstacle to him landing yet another Australian Open title.
The 35-year-old took a medical timeout at 4-4 in the second set to have the strapping changed and fiddled with it at changeovers, but otherwise appeared largely unhindered by the injury.
Couacaud also needed treatment when he turned his ankle nastily in the first set as he tried in vain to hold off a break of serve that gave his opponent a 3-1 lead.
The 27-year-old, who was born in Mauritius, continued to throw everything at Djokovic and played a brilliant second set, finally coming back from 3-0 down to take the tiebreak 7-5.
Djokovic was again warmly supported by the crowd, the acrimony of his deportation from Australia last year over his stance on vaccinations against COVID-19 apparently forgotten.
However, one fan attracted his ire in the fourth set after repeatedly making noise while Djokovic was preparing to serve.
“He’s drunk out of his mind, he’s provoking, he’s not here to watch tennis, what are you going to do about it?” he asked the umpire.
Four men in fancy dress were subsequently escorted from the arena and Djokovic was soon crunching a howitzer of a cross-court backhand winner to bring an end to the contest.
In the first round of the women’s doubles, 11th seeds Chan Hao-ching of Taiwan and Yang Zhaoxuan of China defeated Sam Stosur of Australia and Alize Cornet of France 6-3, 6-4, while Chan Hao-ching’s elder sister Latisha and Alexa Guarachi of Chile cruised past Lucia Bronzetti and Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy 6-1, 6-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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