Novak Djokovic continues to advance at the Australian Open with a 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2 victory over Portuguese Jaime Faria in the second round on Wednesday, taking another step towards his 25th title of Grand Slam.
For the top seeds, the first week of a major tournament is about finding the rhythm in the middle of the competition and Djokovic had an easy time doing that with his first two opponents, both Grand Slam debutants.
Last Monday, inspired American teenager Nishesh Basavareddy gave the ten-time champion the slip at Melbourne Park during the first hour of their first-round clash, and 21-year-old Faria presented another set of problems for Djokovic to resolve.
Djokovic breaks the tie with Federer
Faria’s first-round victory was his first at tour level, while Djokovic broke a tie with Roger Federer to claim another record simply by entering the court: his 430th Grand Slam match.
The difference in experience seemed like an abyss in an unbalanced first set, but Faria managed to get into the match by winning the second set in a tiebreak thanks to good ball hitting and his physical form with which he covered the entire court.
However, Djokovic, with his old adversary Andy Murray back in his coaching box, broke serve to go up 4-2 in the third set and completely nullified the threat the world number 125 offered in the fourth to set himself up for a meeting with the Czech Tomas Machac.
Djokovic: “I love this court”
“I love this court, I love the competition,” said the 37-year-old 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 particularly in the fourth. “I was playing spectacular tennis 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,'” Djokovic said.
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