Daily Times

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic had to dig deep at times against French qualifier Enzo Couacaud but rolled into the third round with a 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0 win on Thursday to continue his quest for a 10th Australian Open crown and a 22nd Grand Slam title. The Serbian looked at his imperious best as he eased through the opening set but hit a roadblock in the 74-minute second when world number 191 Couacaud upped his pace and intensity to level up the contest in a tiebreak. Fourth seed Djokovic changed his shirt and brought in the heavy artillery to whip through the final two sets, setting up a third-round date with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. The Mauritius-born 27-year-old continued to throw everything at Djokovic and played a brilliant second set, finally coming back from 3-0 down to take the tiebreak 7-5. Djokovic was again warmly supported by the crowd, the acrimony of his deportation from Australia last year over his stance on vaccinations against COVID-19 apparently forgotten. One fan attracted his ire in the fourth set, however, after repeatedly making noise while Djokovic was preparing to serve.