adminMELBOURNE. — Pumped-up defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic survived a serious scare yesterday from dangerous American Frances Tiafoe, who pushed him to four gruelling sets before the world No. 1 prevailed.
The Serbian top seed looked in control after taking the first set, but lightning-quick Tiafoe, who reached the quarter-finals two years ago, refused to go quietly. He bounced back to take a close second set before Djokovic dug deep to emerge a 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 winner and continue his relentless march towards a ninth Australian Open title.
“Very tough match when the sun was on the court it was very warm. A lot of long rallies,” said Djokovic. “A great fight from Frances, a great match on his part.
“But it’s not the first time I’ve been in that kind of situation, I know how to handle this type of circumstance.”
He will next play another American, either Taylor Fritz or Reilly Opelka.
Djokovic, who dropped only six games in his opening round clash, had never played Tiafoe, but quickly adapted. The Serb moved up a level in the third set, but so did Tiafoe as they traded blows until too many unforced errors ensured Djokovic took the set.
They went shot-for-shot in the fourth until a glorious backhand gave Djokovic the crucial break for 4-3, with a frustrated Tiafoe slapped with a warning for swearing then double-faultingac to hand the top seed the match.
Djokovic, chasing an 18th Slam crown to close in on the 20 held by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, has won a record eight times in Melbourne.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka was bundled out in the second round after a draining five-set epic, ending hopes of matching his quarter-final run last year.
The 35-year-old Swiss, the tournament winner in 2014, struggled to match the intensity of Martin Fucsovics in the opening two sets but regrouped to stay in the fight.
The 17th seed had three match points in the fifth set tiebreaker but blew them all, with the Hungarian reeling off five straight points for a famous 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (11/9) win in just under four hours.
“Right now I feel like I’m dying, I’m really tired,” said Fucsovics, who was playing his second straight five-setter.
“It was a long match. I knew he was going to come back, he’s a strong player physically and mentally.”
Fucsovics, ranked 55, last year equalled his best Grand Slam result in Melbourne when he reached the round of 16, only to be sent packing by Roger Federer. US Open champion Dominic Thiem stepped up a gear to race past German Dominik Koepfer for the loss of just six games and into the third round.
The third seed was in the zone on Margaret Court Arena, cruising through 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 to set up a potential blockbuster clash next with crowd favourite Nick Kyrgios, who plays French 29th seed Ugo Humbert in a night session. Meanwhile, Serena Williams breezed into the Australian Open third round but Petra Kvitova and Bianca Andreescu were the biggest casualties on the third day yesterday.
Williams, who has dropped just five games in her two matches so far, beat Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic 6-3, 6-0.
Czech ninth seed Kvitova, who reached the final in 2019, was stunned 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 by Sorana Cirstea of Romania. Andreescu, playing in her first major since winning the 2019 US Open, lost 6-3, 6-3 to tricky Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei. — AFP.
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