Novak Djokovic didn’t have it all his own way but the Serb battled to a 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0 victory over Enzo Couacaud.
The nine-time champion had to overcome a leg injury, drunk members of the crowd and French qualifier Enzo Couacaud to reach the third round at the Australian Open.
Couacaud produced an aggressive second set but didn’t have the stamina or control to contain Djokovic.
Next for Djokovic is 27th seed Grigor Dimitrov who beat Laslo Djere in straight sets.
Djokovic was in control from the first ball as he made the French qualifier work for every point.
The world number 191 provided moments of aggressive tennis but ultimately nothing consistent to keep Djokovic obey.
A break in the fourth game saw Djokovic take a 3-1 lead before Couacaud needed some treatment on his ankle.
When play resumed, Djokovic continued to find a high level on the baseline as he had an answer for everything Couacaud had to offer.
Another break in the seventh game was the vital blow as he held in a long game to take the opening set 6-1 in 36 minutes.
If the opening set was impressive, the second set was anything but easy as the French qualifier dramatically improved his level.
Both players found a high level on their serve and produced comfortable service holds.
Then Djokovic had some treatment on his upper leg injury as he struggled with his movement.
That off-court medical time-out seemed to spark life into Couacaud as the Frenchman fended off a fresh wave of attacking play from Djokovic.
Hitting winners all over the place, Couacaud saved two break points in the eleventh game as a tiebreak would decide the second set.
After a quick start from Djokovic, Couacaud fought back into the match and secured the tiebreak 7-5 to level the match at one set all.
However Djokovic was inspired in the third and fourth sets as he raised his level breaking on five occasions.
Despite having trouble with the crowd, Djokovic completed the four set victory in two hours and 55 minutes.
After the match Djokovic gave credit to his opponent, “Enzo deserves credit for the fight, he played some great tennis, especially in the second set,” the Serb said.
“We both had medical timeouts and struggled a little but, but I managed to respond well in the third and especially the fourth.”
Next for Djokovic will be 27th seed Grigor Dimitrov and the Serb hoped it would be an entertaining match, “I haven’t played Grigor in many years, I don’t think we’ve ever faced each other here on this court,” Djokovic was quoted by the BBC as saying.
“Hopefully it’s going to be an entertaining match, I know him really well, we are friends off the court, Balkan brothers. Let the better player win.”
The two have met on ten occasions, with Djokovic winning on nine occasions.
