Novak Djokovic battled into the third round of the Australian Open after surviving another major scare in Melbourne. The defending champion defeated home hopeful Alexei Popyrin in four sets to extend his winning run to 30 matches at the Australian Open, but his title defence looked under threat before closing out a 6-4 4-6 7-6 6-3 victory in just over three hours.
Djokovic was forced to save four set points in the third before winning the following tiebreak on his way to sealing victory against Popyrin, as the 36-year-old battled against a troublesome wrist injury and illness. The Serbian also took on the home crowd and used a heckling fan as his spark to get over the line after appearing subdued in the second and third sets.
The pick of the women’s matches today was the meeting between Ons Jabeur and teenager Mirra Andreeva, who said the Tunisian is her idol before the contest. But the 16-year-old was utterly ruthless as she raced to a 6-0 6-2 win against the sixth seed in just 54 minutes.
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, US Open champion Coco Gauff, Jannik Sinner and home favourite Alex de Minaur all advanced into the third round following straight-sets victories on Wednesday. Follow live scores, updates and results from the Australian Open below