Novak Djokovic: Ten-time Australian Open winner and coach Andy Murray survives another test as Carlos Alcaraz passes | Tennis news
Novak Djokovic and coach Andy Murray passed another Australian Open test, this time against Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria under the roof of Rod Laver Arena.
On Monday, inspired American teenager Nishesh Basavareddy gave the 10-time champion the lead in the opening hour of their first-round clash, and the 21-year-old Faria presented another set of problems for Djokovic to solve.
But the 37-year-old took another step towards a 25th Grand Slam title by eventually winning against the world number 125 6-1 6-7 (7-4) 6-3 6-2.
The experience gap looked like a chasm in a one-sided opening set, but Faria clawed his way back into the contest by winning the second set in a tie-break thanks to good ball striking and athleticism all over the court.
Đoković, with his former opponent Murray back in his coaching box, nevertheless made a break for 4-2 in the third set and completely eliminated the threat of his moody rival in the fourth and ensured a meeting with the Czech Tomas Machac.
“I love this court, I love the competition,” said the Serbian after reaching the third round of the Australian Open for the 17th time with his 14th ace of the match.
“I think I responded well in the third set, and especially in the fourth. He played tennis without lights at the end of the second set and at the beginning of the third, and I had to weather the storm.
“I told him online, ‘the future is bright for you, so keep going’.”
Alcaraz aspires to ‘server bot’ status in Melbourne
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz lost Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0 6-1 6-4 in 81 minutes and entered the third round.
Alcaraz started brightly and never looked back, winning the first nine games before Nishioka could even get on the board.
“Really happy with the service today,” said Alcaraz, who wrote “Am I a service bot?” on the camera lens.
“It’s something I worked on in the preseason. In the first round I struggled a bit, so I wasn’t too happy with my serve.
“Yesterday I was more focused on serving practice. I spent more time just serving with Juan Carlos [Ferrero]with my team, and that’s something I really want to get better at. So I’m just glad it worked out pretty well today. I hope it will be better in the next round.”
Alcaraz will next face Portugal Nuno Borgeswho beat 27th seed Jordan Thompson 6-3 6-2 6-4.
The Spaniard is aiming to become the youngest man in history to complete a career Grand Slam this fortnight.
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