Novak Djokovic admitted that he was aware of the similarities between his first- and second-round wins at the Australian Open. Under the weather and out of sorts, Djokovic faced an inspired opponent at the Rod Laver Arena and there was a moment where the 10-time champion wobbled, his six-year winning run at Melbourne Park suddenly under threat. Like it was in the opening round against Dino Prizmic, surviving the third set was key to victory against the home hopeful Alexei Popyrin: Djokovic faced four set points but saved them all on his way to emerging with a 6-3 4-6 7-6 (4) 6-3 win.

 

Spurred on by his home fans as he stood on the brink of an unlikely lead, it only took an instant of their overexuberance to change the momentum and deny Popyrin. As Djokovic battled and scrapped in the fourth, the 36-year-old was strangely subdued and uncharacteristically flat. Already irritated by the noise of the crowd between his first and second serves, Djokovic identified a heckling fan who he believed had crossed a line: the Serbian stopped, turned from the baseline, and challenged him. Once again, it lifted Djokovic and he found his best level of the match to seal the fourth set.

 

 

“Maybe that was needed, I don’t know,” Djokovic smiled. He managed to extend his winning run at Melbourne Park to 30 matches and it is remarkable that fans such as those who were supporting Popyrin have not learnt that Djokovic produces his best tennis when he is provoked into playing against the crowd. Against the Australian, it was what Djokovic required to fire himself up.

 

“Look, I don’t want to be in those types of situations,” he explained. “Yeah, I was flat emotionally. Game-wise I was quite flat for some part of the match, end of second set, most of the third set. Maybe that was needed for me to be shaken up a bit and start to find the kind of intensity on the court that I needed to have all match.”